Pokemon Esprit: The Journey of Kalos
by The-Grand-Enchanter
Summary: Throughout his journey within Sinnoh, fifteen year old Kato has always had this strange ability within him, the ability to see and feel the thoughts of people and pokemon with his mind. By the time his adventure drew to a close, a mysterious man from Kalos message him saying his power could help the world grow closer with pokemons. A new adventure awaits in the region of Kalos
1. Prologue: The Beginning of a Journey

**A/N: Welcome, and I thank you so much for checking out my story! This will be my first story posted on this website so I hope that you will enjoy it.**

 **Note that since this is my first time creating something like this there will be some grammar mistakes. I am still human but I will revise my chapters as much as I can, so I hope you won't get too annoyed when you see some mistakes.**

 **Consider reviewing to help my chapters get better or just give me your thoughts. I would like to know what the people who are reading this are like.**

 **First things first. To avoid confusions, this story will focus on the pokemon game version's world but with the anime logic.**

 **In a nut shell, the video game's world (Such as the Kanto or Kalos Region) will be the setting of this story while the Anime's logic will focus mainly on how fighting will work.**

 **For example: In the pokemon anime, a battle between two pokemons can have very different outcomes, regardless of the advantage and disadvantage. A type such as Grass will not automatically win against water every single time.**

 **Of course it will have an advantage, but types alone should not and will not determine the outcome of a fight. In the anime, there have been many pokemons of the opposite types winning against their counter parts by either pure strength or use of different moves. (Such as a Charizard winning against Greninja in the XYZ anime or Greninja winning against a Sceptile)**

 **In terms of the setting, the world will take place with the games landscape, including only the game's towns and major places. I may add anime (or movies) exclusive places in the future if it feels necessary. I also have not read nor know anything about the pokemon manga so there will be no intentional reference there.**

 **I may either add and explain more rules as the story goes on or I'll take away some rules as well.**

 **Again, I thank you so much for reading my story and I hope you like it. Enjoy' :)**

* * *

 ** _Prologue: The beginning of a journey_**

From the beginning, I had always known life as a very long story. At the start of a story, it is dull and boring and nothing much ever happens. It's part of the reason why I tend to ignore the things that goes around me most of the time. But then comes that one moment, that one special event that changes your life for the better or worst. This event could be anything. It can occur when one obtain something, such as a special item, an opportunity to improve one's life, or even money. Or it can occur from meeting another living being, such as a best friend, ones true love, or in my case, my Pokemon.

* * *

"I do wish you would spend more time out there Kato or you may start your journey alone." said my mother who was upset of the fact that I refuse to stay outside. She has always been like that. Ever since I could talk my mother would urge me to explore the outside world more with the neighboring kids. I can see her upset face as she works inside the kitchen, preparing a meal for tonight's dinner. It was a cloudy day in the land of Sinnoh, and I had turned ten a long time ago. Meaning that I, along with some other kids, would get the chance to go on the adventure of a life time, a Pokemon journey. To be honest, I had no interest in it.

"When will you take this seriously?" my mother asked, "This adventure is going to be a wonderful experience for you to have."

"Do I really have to do this mother? Aren't you scared that I'm leaving home for, Arceus knows how long?" I said from the table that I was sitting at.

"Of course I'm afraid Kato, but every child at your age is given the chance to set out and explore the world, and every single one of those children is safe and never alone."

"What about what dad said?"

"Your father has never been on a journey at your age. I have and I truly believe that this is the right choice." My mother said as she walk towards me from the kitchen, "Beside, the professor will be on his way here soon and it will be a disappointment for him to come all for nothing."

"There are other kids my age who want pokemons more than I do" I sign looking out the window.

"Well, then-"

Here voice was interrupted by a knock on our front door. My mom went over to answer it and we were greeted by one of our neighbors kid Brian, who was also my age and was starting his journey as well. Brian was a little taller and older than me with short, spiky brown hair. He had jeans and wore a orange hoodie with a red shirt underneath it. Normally, he was always the energetic type, but for some reason his face shows no emotion today.

"Hi Mrs. Stout. It's nice to see you again." Brian said without a smile but had a polite tone in it, "I was wondering if Kato could come hang out with us outside while we wait for Professor Rowan." Despite his efforts, I could tell he was uncomfortable to be here. I could understand. Normally, I don't hang out with the local kids because I found no reason to. It was obvious that Sophie put him up to this. She had always wanted me to come outside and stop my reclusive nature.

"Of course Brian, Kato would love to do that. Just give us a minute to get his jacket and he'll be on his way." She closed the door and gave me one look that had a mixture of determination and frustration as if she was saying, ' _you are so going out there right now and you are not saying otherwise.'_

* * *

"Dang it Brian, why did you have to bring him here!" came a voice that spoke as soon as we were seen. The voice, as if you cannot already tell, came from a jerk name Brand. He was the biggest and oldest kid in the group. Having turned eleven a couple weeks ago lead him to the idea of being the leader of the group, which he was not but still had a big ego. He had spiky brown hair like Brian only that it was longer and darker. He wore a brown jacket with khaki pants and he was sitting on a log near a campfire along with several other people.

When I stay inside my house, I would read stories or watch shows that would tell a story about a bully picking on other people. In my life, that bully would be Brand. Brian always told me that he wasn't a bad guy, but I found that hard to believe.

"Leave him alone" came the voice of Sophie the girl that I had mention early, "He's not bothering anyone and I thought that this would be a great time to get to know him better seeing as he's also starting his journey too." Sophie was by far the nicest person I know besides by parents. She's been like this since the first time we've met. Today she was wearing her usual outfit. A blue button coat and skirt with a sky blue scarf wrapped around her neck. She wore a dark blue head band in her light brown hair. Can you guess what her favorite color is?

Looking at the other people in the group, I saw another girl and boy sitting beside Sophie and Brand. The girl sitting beside Sophie is Anna. She wore a white snow cap which covers her blonde hair along with a pink jacket and blue pants. Currently, she was putting her full attention on her poketch.

The boy with the black hair like mine is Jacob. He had worn a gray button coat and pants and was sitting next to Brand. Jacob was more of a serious type, always focusing more on the important stuff rather than taking a joke.

"As if," Brand said as I returned my attention back to the conversation, "It's going to be awkward having him around here. He'll be just like a statue. When the professor comes and ask us questions, he'll just stay silent."

"No matter what happens, this is the right thing to do." Sophie states firmly.

"Aren't there too many of you guys to start a journey?" Asked Jacob who got everyone's attention. "I mean, normally the professor only carries three Pokemon for us to have, yet there are four of you guys who wish to have one."

"Four?" I asked, "What do you mean?

"Anna and I aren't planning to leave Twinleaf Town until we're older. We have other plans for the future besides starting a journey. However, my plans are a bit more realistic than Anna's." He emphasized on the word realistic which causes Anna to join in with rage.

"Hey! What do you mean?!" She exclaimed.

"I'm saying that your 'dream' of becoming a popular celebrity is going to be short of a miracle."

Anna crossed her arms and gave him a frown. "Why do you always say that? It's not like your dream is any better than mine. My future is going to be way better than yours!"

"First of all, that's if your future happens, and second, I am more likely to follow in my father's footsteps compare to your idiotic dream of becoming-"

"Alright that's enough!" Exclaimed Brian attempting to end the argument before it gets too far. "Hold off on this conversation for this future. Then you can argue as much as you want."

Both Anna and Jacob shifted in displeasure, but they eventually agree and the fight ended with a soft "Fine" between the two. With that, we all sat around the fire place and started talking to pass the time. It didn't take long for the professor to arrive at the front entrance of town. When professor Rowan came into view, he was soon welcomed by the local parents.

Ok, to be perfectly honest, I was scared out of my mind the first time I met professor Rowan. Can you blame me? The man's face expression and personality is enough to start a whole scary rumor about him. He always wore this stern and serious face that makes you wonder if you did anything wrong. Well, I was around 6 or 7 when I first met him. Meaning that, at the time, I had only judge people on what they look like. But now, I came to liking his serious yet understanding personality, though he still made me uneasy. The Pokemon professor wore a brown padded jacket around a dark blue collared shirt. He still wore that stern face which was covered by his white hair and mustache. In his left hand was brown brief case which I assumed held our pokemons.

After the parents of the town greeted professor Rowan, he then walked over to the unlit fire place that we were sitting at. As he came closer, Anna rushed up to him and gave him a giant hug that push him back a bit.

"Hi Mr. Rowan! Nice to see you again," she said with glee. I could never understand how Anna could be so friendly to people who can give you nightmares. What? Ok, so I do get nightmares about him. Don't judge me.

"Hello again miss Key," said professor Rowan with a smile, "Every time I see you Anna you've seem to be growing bigger. But as I've always said, it is professor Rowan, not Mr. Rowan."

"Sorry, I've just always like the word Mr. more than professor."

"Don't be sorry it's all right. Just call me by whatever you like then."

"So now that your here, can we finally get this thing started?" asked Brand impatiently.

"Very well then," the professor cleared his throat. "Hello everybody, my name is Rowan, pokemon professor of Sinnoh, but you may call me professor Rowan; though, you all may have already known that." He clears his throat again before speaking. "Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, may I ask you all a question?"

We all said yes, though, Brand and Brian looked a bit annoyed.

"Throughout my life I have been ask a question that I will now ask you all, what do you want to be when you all grow up in the future?" The Pokemon professor started picking out people to call on. "Sophie and Jacob, what would you like to be when you grow up?"

"I have no interest in a journey with Pokemons" answered Jacob as he stood up, "My father has a business running in both the Hoenn and the Sinnoh region, and I may decide to work there soon.

"I don't usually plan too much for my future" said Sophie, "but I know that I want to go and enter Sinnoh's Pokemon contest!"

"I'm planning on challenging the Sinnoh league and defeating the champion!" Joined Brian who said it excitedly, "I've been dreaming of going on this adventure for a while now, and imagine me becoming the champion of Sinnoh!"

"That's if you beat the league Brian." Brand joined in with a smirk, "If there's anybody who is going to become the next champion, it's going to be me."

"Well, let's see then shall we?"

"You're on!" Brand and Brian both looked fired up at each other. It was obvious that they were going to be rivals.

The professor then turns towards Anna, "And what of you Miss Key? Knowing your enthusiastic nature, I'd imagine you would have an idea."

Anna hesitated for a moment. I could tell that she was worried about what he might think of her answer.

"Well, I've always been a fan of the new movies that have been coming out. So I dream that, maybe one day, I could star in one of those movies."

"You wish to become an actress?" asked professor Rowan.

Anna looked towards the ground before nodding, "Yes I do." It was faint but I then heard a sigh from Jacob in the background.

Despite the shy looked on Anna's face, professor Rowan smiled gently at her and said" Well then, I look forward to seeing you on the big screens one day miss Key."

Anna look up in surprise but quickly grinned at his encouragement and she finally began to look like herself again. I was surprise. A few words of encouragement from the professor was all it took for her to be happy. She must really look up to him. I wonder if I could ever be like that.

"And lastly, what would you like to be Kato?" The Pokemon professor finally said to me. "Please, tell the group of your ideas of the future."

I shrunk backed at my seat a bit as all eyes turn towards me. I wasn't sure what to say. I look towards to group and saw Sophie giving me a encouraging smile while Brand sigh in annoyance, as if he knew this would happen. The idea of that made me angry and eager to prove him wrong, so I muster enough courage to speak.

I took a deep breath, "I'm- I don't really have any dreams for the future.

"You don't? No dream of challenging the league or maybe even traveling the world? Nothing at all?"

I shook my head, "I never really thought much ahead, so I decided to just wait till it happens."

Professor Rowan frown at my answer (at least I think it's a frown. I can't really tell with the mustache in the way) and stayed silent for a moment to think.

"I understand Kato, there are many people who don't like to think of the future much so I won't ask more. Yet you still want to go on this journey?"

Knowing what my mother would say if I refuse right now, I said, "I do, I guess."

Satisfy with the answer, the Pokemon professor continues on, "Well then, as upset as I am that none of you wishes to be a Pokemon professor, I am glad that I had the chance to get to know you all a little better. Now, if I am not mistaken, I believe Anna and Jacob are the only two who are not going on a journey?"

The two that were mention nodded.

"Then can Kato, Sophie, Brand, and Brian, please step up and receive your new partner.

We all stood up as he open his case revealing four ordinary pokeballs.

"I don't usually do this, but after hearing that four of you are going on a journey, I have decided to add a fourth pokemon into the mix for all of you to choose from.

We all stared in awe as professor Rowan released all four Pokemon. My dad would sometime take me to his work at Jubilife city where I would read at a nearby library. There, I had learned about many Pokemons within the Sinnoh region so I had already known the Pokemon when the professor revealed them.

"Children, I introduce you all to Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, and Eevee."

Turtwig was a green turtle like pokemon that had a small little twig on the top of its head. Like other Pokemons, Turtwig was a grass type, meaning that it was weak against fire but strong against water. The pokemon was currently crouching down and backing away, which shows how shy it was.

Chimchar was an orange amp like pokemon with fire burning at it backside, indicating that it was a fire type. Fire is weak against water and strong against grass. He looked excited as he watch new people around gather and watch.

Piplup was a blue bird like pokemon. I remember reading that although it looked like a bird, it couldn't fly. Instead, it could swim amazingly fast, showing that it was a water type. water is weak to grass but strong against fire. Unlike Chimchar, Piplup looked a tad bored and didn't care much at what was going on.

The last one was a brown fur pokemon called Eevee. Because there are four of us, Eevee has been included so that all of us can have a pokemon. Eevee was different from the others because it took on the role of a normal type. Normal types don't really have a lot of strength, nor do they have a ton of weaknesses. When evolved, it can turn into one of many different types, making it a very unique Pokemon to have.

"Now then, which one of you would like to go firs-"

"I will!" Brian and Brand both scream and raised their hands in unison, causing the group to jump up in surprise.

"I want Chimchar to be my partner." stated Brian.

"No, I want him! You get someone else." argued Brand.

"Never mind then." sigh professor Rowan shaking his head in the process, "Kato and Sophie, you two may choose your partner first."

"What, why?" the two boys said in unison again.

"You two are both uncooperative and impatient. Because of your lack of respect, your friends will choose before you two." He turned his attention from the boys to Sophie. "Now then, have you already decided on a partner miss Sophie?"

Sophie pondered the question for a moment, "I'm not really sure yet. At first, I had already decided on choosing Piplup, but now that there's an Eevee, I can't tell which one is cuter."

"I still can't believe you would have a Pokemon just to enter into one of those lame contest," said Brand, "If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time-"

"You shut your mouth before I shut it for you!" Exclaimed Sophie with a furious expression.

"Whoa, whoa! Too much aggression!" Brand panic and backed up a bit, completely forgetting that even though Sophie is kind to everyone she meets, make one wrong move towards her or her friends and she will strike like a wild pokemon. As Sophie began assaulting Brand with words, I began to hear a soft little giggle coming from Anna and Brian. Even Jacob managed a smile at the scene for a bit.

"What about you Kato?" The professor asked as he turned towards me. "Can you choose a Pokemon so that we can all get started?"

I held a hand to my chin and thought for a moment. "I haven't really thought much on the decision, but let me think."

I looked towards the four pokemons and focus more on what they were like rather than on what they were.

Chimchar had a more exciting and energetic nature, making it a perfect fit for Brian. Piplup looked bored and slightly sleepy, not really caring on what is happening. That may be a problem if Sophie, who was more of a caring type, were to choose him. Eevee was the only one in the group that was acting normally. Not energetic like Chimchar nor uncaring like Piplup, but happy regardless.

But what stood out from the four was the Turtwig. As I look at him more, I was surprise by how sad he looked. At first I thought he was just shy, but now I saw that it was more than that. That's when I realized why. Grass type starter pokemon are usually the least popular of the three since it's the one with the most weaknesses. When the others attempted to choose the other starters, he must have felt unwanted when he was ignored.

Knowing this, I knelt down towards Turtwig and called out his name. He was surprise for a second, but he then slowly walk forward and allowed me to pet him. I smiled when I patted his head, and in return he smile back.

"Turtwig, an interesting choice," professor Rowan commented gathering the attention of the others.

"Yeah...I guess it is."

"Do you mind if I ask your reason for this decision?"

"Reason? I mean...when I saw Turtwig, I saw how sad he looked and I felt bad for him. In other words, I could relate to him more"

"So you choose Turtwig not because of what he is, but because of how he reminds you of yourself?"

"Yes" was the only thing I could muster. Following that was a brief moment of silence and what looks like a stern look from professor Rowan. But I guess that it wasn't a stern look, because soon after, he started laughing. It was a small yet kind laugh, as if he was proud of me.

"Well then Kato, I can already tell that you're going to be a great trainer."

Sophie, who had stopped arguing with Brand earlier and was now paying attention, looked towards the other pokemons.

"I get it," she said, "I should choose the pokemon that most resemble me. So because of that, I've decided to have Piplup as my partner."

'Oh no' I thought, "Um Sophie, I don't think that's a good idea-"

"Hi Piplup! I'm going to be your partner so I hope we can all get along!" Piplup responded with a yawn and then lays back down to sleep.

Well this can't end well.

"Professor Rowan!" Brian was practically on his knees begging, "Can I please have Chimchar? I need him on my journey!"

"No way" Brand joined in, "I of all people should-"

"Anna, do you have the pokètech app where you flip a coin to decide on something?" asked Professor Rowan.

"Uh, yeah I do."

"Good. Now boys, choose heads or tails"

Brian went first and called heads while Brand was left with the choice of tails. As we saw Anna flip the coin, it landed on head.

"Yes! Thank you Arceus."

"How is this fair?" complained Brand, "Great, now I'm stuck with an Eevee."

"Don't be so rude Brand or else you'll hurt Eevee's feelings," stated the pokemon professor, "Besides, you are aware that Eevee is capable of becoming a fire type through evolution."

Apparently he didn't know because when the professor said this, he reacted with surprise for a moment but nodded his head.

Gaining everyone's attention again, professor Rowan made an announcement, "Well then everyone, I wish you all the best of luck. Once you all are done preparing to leave for your journey, I highly recommend you stop by my lab in Sandgem town to say hi and receive your pokedex. You will need it if you wish to learn more of the pokemon that you will encounter."

I looked towards Turtwig and instead of seeing sadness in his eyes; I now saw joy and determination. "Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought."

* * *

 _The Next Day_

"Are you sure this is a good idea Brian? I mean, exploring before we begin our journey may not be the best idea." That's what I said, but really, I was just scared of going into the forest. Throughout our life, we've been told to never go out explore outside of town because it was dangerous. Yet here we are, taking a stroll through it without a care in the world.

"What are you taking about Kato? Of course it's a good idea to explore before our journey. This way, we will be able to gain some experience for the future."

"Yeah but-"

"It's going to be all right, okay. I know we're not allowed to leave town, but we have pokemons now. We can defend ourselves if we are in danger." Brian sounded confidante but I was still unsure.

The shadows cover the forest floor in the daylight, but small rays of light escape through the trees. Despite being told how dangerous it was as a child, I couldn't help but feel amazed at how calm and peaceful it is.

"This is definitely going to give us a head start on experience Kato. Watch, when we start our journey we will already be stronger than the others."

"Alright, but if we get lost because of this I'm blaming it on you." I guess I shouldn't be complaining about this. Out of everyone in the group who got pokemons yesterday, Brian chose me to come with him to explore. I guess he didn't want Brand to come since he was his rival, but he could have asked Sophie. I guess he really is making an effort to be friends with me.

Tomorrow marks the day when we leave Twinleaf town to explore the world. We had all decided on taking a day to prepare for the journey. However, Brian had other ideas on how to get ready.

"Hey Kato," Brian asked with a bit of a serious tone, "Are you planning on challenging the league like me and Brand?"

"Yea, I am. I hadn't plan much at first, but I was originally going to challenge the league anyway.

Brian smiled at my answer, "In that case, how about me and Brand become your rivals."

"Sure, that'd be fair." I joked, "When Brand evolves his Eevee, it's going to be one grass type against two fire types.

Brian laughs at the thought, "I never said that it was going to be easy." We kept on walking for a moment before we came to an opening in the forest

"I guess I'll manage- whoa."

I stopped thinking for a moment when we came into view of the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. The lake covered a large part of the forest, with water as clean and clear as glass. The light from the sun made the lake gleam like a gem and it gave off a peaceful feeling. The atmosphere itself felt serene and pleasant, and only the soft sound of pokemons could be heard. In the middle was a tiny little island with a small cave in the center.

I walk towards the edge of the lake in awe "How have we not seen this before?"

"I don't know about you Kato, but this right here is amazing." Brian knelt down at the rim of the lake, looking at how deep it was. I went over to the right side to take in the landscape.

This would be a wonderful place to relax or hang out in, maybe to even go fishing. How have we not seen nor heard about this lake before? I'm sure it may not be very important, but we should have at least heard of it from someone.

"Quick, get down!" I couldn't respond nor yelp in surprise as Brian place a hand over my mouth and pulled me behind the nearest tree. "Shush Kato, look over there." He pointed to the right of the lake.

I turned my head towards where he was pointing at. At the far right of the lake, I could only make out a small looking pokemon moving.

"What is that?" I asked quietly.

"Let's have a closer look"

Quietly moving forward, we creep over to where the small pokemon was. When we came into view, I saw that it was a Starly, a small black and white feather bird pokemon. It was currently drinking water from the lake.

"Awesome!" Brian exclaimed in a quiet whisper. "This is going to be a great fight! Do you want to battle it first or can I?"

"You know if you wanted to have some combat experience you could have fought me or Brand right?"

"Yeah, but I think this is a better way of learning how to fight. Besides, I want to challenge everyone when we all get stronger."

"I don't know Brian, something seems off about this." I said with a concern voice.

"If you're not going to battle it, I will." Brian brought out his pokeball in its enclosed form and expanded it, preparing to start a battle. He then took advantage of Starlys unawareness and sent out Chimchar for battle.

"Go Chimchar!" The pokeball opened, surprising Starly as it Chimchar was release. The flame pokemon stood in a stance, looking eager to win his first battle. "Chimchar use scratch!"

Chimchar cried out his name as the tips of his fingers glowed white and struck the flying type. Surprise at first, Starly quickly collected itself and counter back with a peck, stunning Chimchar and knocking him back for a moment.

"Show him how strong you are by using ember!" Brian said with a confidence tone. Chimchar looked back at its trainer for a moment to give him a nod and then shot a small ball of fire from its mouth. Starly made an attempt to dodge the attack by flying but was too slow. The flame's impact led to Starly looking tired and worn out.

"One more shot Chimchar, use scratch!" He was right. The last scratch hit Starly, causing it to faint.

"Alright!" Brian was practically jumping up and down with joy. "I won my first battle!"

"Calm down Brian, it's just a battle." I started walking up to him to see how they were doing. "Besides, Starly was just another wild pokemon. I doubt that this will be anything like a real fight between trainers."

"Well then, do you want to battle when we get back home?" Brian challenge.

"Yea right, fire against grass is not going to be a fair fight." I looked towards the sky to see how much daylight we had left. "Speaking of home, we should probably be heading back soon otherwise it will become dark."

"Wait a minute," Brian said stopping me in my tracks. "do you hear that?" I stayed silent for a moment but heard nothing. Then from out of nowhere, I started to hear something beating.

"Look over there!"

I turn to where he was looking at and I realize the sound I was hearing was the beating of wings. In the air flew a very angry looking pair of pokemons that I knew as Staraptor, the final evolution of Starly. Staraptor was a black and white bird pokemon like Starly, expect that it was bigger and more adult like.

"What the?" I said now worried while taking a step back.

"Calm down Kato." Despite the two pokemon, Brian still had the look and voice of confidence. "More pokemons means more opportunities for battles. Come on, sent out your Turtwig so we can have a tag team fight!"

Something felt wrong about this. When the two wild Staraptor flew down, it pass us and went straight for the fainted Starly that Brian just fought. Coming towards it, the two started to examine the little flying type.

"I think that the Starly that you just fought was a baby," The two adult pokemon tend to the Starly for injuries. When they were done, they look up at us with a glare that was follow up with a loud screech. "And his parents must be mad that we hurt him!"

What came next happen so quickly that I could have hardly reacted. The Staraptors charged at us with great speed. Their beaks extending and glowing white for an attack. Before any of us could respond, one of the flying type went and struck Chimchar with its beak. A loud grunt of pain was all that the fire pokemon could make before the impact sent him crashing into a nearby tree, causing him to faint.

"Chimchar!" Brian race over to his partner but was stop by the second Staraptor flying in front of him. "Out of the way, I need to get my pokemon back!"

Ignoring his comment, the Staraptor that was blocking Brian flew up and then came down for a charging attack. Unlike the earlier attack where their beaks glow white, Staraptors body began to be envelope in a white aura while flying towards Brian. The pokemon's speed increase in the process and Brian could hardly react.

"Ack!" The bird slams its white aura body into the trainer. Like his partner before him, Brian crash into a nearby tree, losing conscious in the process.

"Brian!" I started to run towards my friend but was stop in my tracks by the other Staraptor. When I look at Brian, I saw that the other flying type that had attack him was charging up another attack. These pokemons were crazy! Showing no mercy even when your opponent has already been defeated was just cruel. Were all wild pokemons like this?

"Dang it!" In frustration I pull my pokeball from my pocket. "Turtwig, I need your help!" Releasing my partner from his ball, Turtwig stood ready for attack but then back up in terror when he realize what was in front of him.

"Turtwig, draw the Staraptors away from Brian and Chimchar by using razor leaf!"

Turtwig hesitated for a moment, but then got over it and launch a small wave of razor leaves towards the wild pokemons. The attack barley affected the Staraptors, but it did manage to get their attention.

"Starap-tor!" the two scream in rage and charge at Turtwig.

"Turtwig, withdrawn into your shell!" Turtwig retreat into his shell, increasing his defense as the Staraptors began their assault. The flying types attempted to get my partner out of his shell but were finding trouble doing so. With the wild pokemons distracted, I race over to Brian and Chimchar who were both still unconscious.

"That doesn't look good." I check Brian's body to see if there were any marks and found a small bruise forming at the back of his neck. Wasting no time, I grab Chimchar and carried Brian on my shoulder and hid them both behind a tree. Hopefully this will keep the wild pokemons from attacking them.

Then came a loud cry from my Turtwig. I turn to see what had happen and found that the Staraptors had manage to draw out Turtwig from his shell and were now able attack him directly. With my friend hidden, I race over to the three pokemons.

"Hey! Over here!" I said trying to gain the attention of the birds. I withdrew my pokeball and call back Turtwig into his ball. The Staraptors, confuse from where the Turtwig had gone, turn their attention to me. "That's right, follow me!"

I ran down the edge of the lake. Turning back, I found the Staraptors following my trail. My original plan was to get the Staraptors away from Brian, but I hadn't really thought on what to do after that so I kept on running. Ok, you all may think that I was calm and smart throughout this,; but really, I was terrified out of my mind. I didn't know if this would work, nor did I know if I would be all right.

My train of thought weaken as my legs grew tired from all the running, but I didn't look back. The last thing I heard and felt before I fell was a loud screech and a sharp pain from my back.

I grunted and moan with pain as I fell and roll onto my stomach. Turning on my back, I saw the Staraptor's beaks glow white for another assault. I shielded my eyes with my arms as they started pecking me relentlessly, yelping in pain with each strike. It kept on going! They won't stop. Eventually, one of the attacks impact went straight for my forehead, which led to a giant headache and with my conscious fading.

Is this what wild pokemons are really like? Was this how dangerous the world was? Soon I couldn't stop the tears from falling from my eyes.

Eventually, the pain stop and I was about to lose conscious. My eyes were starting to close by itself and I saw a blurry image of the Staraptors in the sky. They looked like they were charging one final attack. I was scared if this was the end, yet my arms were to sore to move. I closed my eyes as the flying types flew towards me.

Then, what happens next was something I couldn't understand nor did I have any idea of what was going on. All that I heard and remember was a loud explosion, follow by a pop sound from a pokeball, and when I open my eyes for a peak, all I saw was a bright pink light. Then I finally black out.

* * *

 _'Kato? Kato!'_ Something felt wrong. I couldn't think straight at all. What just happen?

' _Kato!'_ It was a voice I didn't recognized. It sounded as if it didn't belong to a human.

 _'_ _Kato,_ Kato!" I woke to a start, my head covered with sweat. My thoughts were clouded, making it hard to understand what was happening.

"Kato, are you alright?" I sat up, my heart beating with anxiety. I turn towards the person talking to me. It was Sophie; her face and voice was filled with worry and concern.

"Sophie? Where are we? What time is it?" I rub my eye feeling tired.

"You and Brian left town yesterday and you guys never came back. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I am." That's when I remember what had happen. "Brian! Where is he-'' My mouth stop talking when I realized that Brian was sitting right next to Sophie with the same look of concern. My brain started to work again and I realized that I was in my room, lying down in my bed. From what the outside look like from my window, I could tell that the sun had gone down. "We're back at town?"

"Kato" Brian said slowly. "Do you remember what happen yesterday at the forest?"

I was still a little groggily from my sleep, but my mind was clear enough to answer. "We were out exploring in the forest. Then I remember a bunch of Staraptors fighting us, and then we all got pretty hurt. But what happen afterwards?"

"Well, I guess he's alright." Brian said to Sophie.

"After you two went missing yesterday the whole town started searching for you." Sophie said, "Luckily, your Turtwig was able to come find us and led us to where you guys were."

"Turtwig found you?" I question in surprise, "But I only release him once and after that I brought him back."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, but Turtwigs right here." She motion towards the bottom right side of my bed and I saw Turtwig looking up at me. "He's been with you this whole time. Turtwig must really care for you for doing this."

I couldn't believe it. I could have sworn I return Turtwig back into his ball. Was the popping sound I heard earlier the result of Turtwig coming out on his own? No, that can't be right. Ugh, this is all so confusing!

"On the bright side," Sophie continued, "none of you got any injuries. Heck, from what I've heard so far about the Staraptors, you two are lucky to even come out of that without any marks."

No injuries? "What're you talking about? Brian and I were knocked unconscious; of course we got some marks on us."

"Not really." Brian explained, "When I woke up in the forest, I was all right. Nothing hurt and nothing went wrong. It was like I had just woken up from a dream." He circled around to show that he was fine. I notice that the bruise from the back of his neck was gone, which was even more strange. "Look at yourself, your completely fine too."

He was right. When I check my body for injuries, there were none. This was odd because I could have sworn I was attacked repeatedly.

"That can't be right," I said, "I remember that Brian had some bruises-'' I was interrupted with a large pain in my head that clouded my thoughts. I bit back a sound of pain but my expression told my friends that I was in trouble.

"Kato? What's wrong?" Sophie panicked.

"It's' alright." The pain only lasted for a few second before my head cleared, "It was just a small headache." Then, when it was quite again, I started hearing faint shouting from downstairs.

"What's going on downstairs guys?" I asked. My friends and pokemon backed up a few steps as I got out of my bed. I was wearing cloths different than what I had on before; my pajamas which were a soft dark blue pants and a white shirt.

As I exit the upstairs floor, followed by my friends and pokemon, everybody downstairs stop talking when I came into view. I saw that my parents were there, along with Brian's parents and Sophie's mother. From the looks of things I could tell that my parents were the center of the conversation as they both had a look of worry and tiredness. My mother came up to me and said, "Kato, are you all right? Does anything feel wrong?"

"I'm okay mom, but what's going on down here?"

My mother stayed silent and looked down for a moment, as if she was sad that this was her fault. Then my dad came up behind her. My father was a rather tall thin man who wore glasses most of the time because of his far sight problems.

"Brian told us everything so you don't have to talk right now." My father said gingerly. "Just go back into your room and rest for a bit. We'll talk to you later."

"But what's going on here?" I asked again.

Before dad could respond, Brian's father stood up from his chair. He had a somewhat stout build with a rough voice, "We were talking about whether or not you should go on you pokemon journey." This led to the room being completely consume with silence.

I was confused and shocked at the same time. "Dad, what does he mean?"

"Listen Kato I-''

"Your son has the right to know Marcus." interrupted Brian's dad, "It's his journey, and you can't decide whether he shouldn't go or not."

The room became silent for a minute. Was this really happening? "You don't want me to become a trainer dad?" I asked.

My father sighs and wipes his face with his hand. He looks tired, as if he's been at this all day. "Kato, your mother and I have decided that the best thing to do right now would be for you to not go on an adventure. We decided this after we heard what happen in the forest."

My mother came up and announce to the other families, "The decision is Kato's to make, but I know for a fact that after everything that happen the last thing that my son wants would be to-''

"What are you talking about!?" I exclaimed abruptly causing almost everyone to be taken back by surprise. "Of course I want to go on an adventure!"

All of the family members stood there in shock, but my father spoke up first. "But Kato, aren't you afraid after what happen with those Staraptors?"

Then my mom joined in, "I thought you said that you didn't want to go on this journey in the first place. Beside, after that event it is far too dangerous for you to go."

I couldn't believe this. My own mother who always wanted me to go on this journey, is now saying the opposite.

At first, I took a moment to think what I was about to say. I took a deep breath and muster all of my courage, and spoke as clearly and as passionately as I could, "At first, yes I didn't want to go out on a pokemon adventure mom. That was because at the time, I was afraid of going out into the world alone. I didn't know what an adventure would be like. But after what happen yesterday, I've learned that I'm even more afraid of not going or knowing what the outside world is like. I will admit the time with the Staraptor was by far the scariest moment I had ever lived; for a moment there I thought I was going to die and I'm sure that memory will haunt me for a while. But despite everything that had happen, for the first time in forever in my boring life, I had truly felt alive during that moment. Not just encountering the pokemon, but seeing battles with them as well! I know it sounds crazy, which is why I was scared to admit it at first, but because of that event I finally made my decision. I won't let my past decide what I'm about to do in the future. I will focus on what I want to do and what I want to become."

I took in a deep breath, "Dad, mom, I want to be a pokemon trainer."

I let out a tiring breath as I finish my speech. Everyone, including my friends and their family, were in a state of shock about what had just happen. I too was surprise, for normally I would barley talk nor argue about anything. Throughout the town, I was always know for the quiet type, never talking unless spoken to and always kept to myself.

I didn't care about this sudden change. In fact, I rather enjoy this state of mind. Despite the early headache my mind felt completely clear, maybe even better. In fact, my mind felt as if it had found a new path to follow in. I looked behind me and found that my Turtwig was the only one smiling at me, showing how proud he is.

My mother stayed quite in thought and looked towards the ground, as if she was thinking about my idea. My father however, recovers from his shock and clenched his fist in anger. He then started to shout with a loud voice that I had never heard from him before. "That's it! I've had just about enough of all of this! Everyone out of the house my decision is final! Kato, you are not going out on an adventure and I am calling professor Rowan to take back his pokemon!"

"But Marcus-" everybody started talking at once but was then interrupted and forced outside by my dad. I couldn't believe what my father was doing. I acted quickly. While my friends and their families were leaving the house, I quickly found my pokeball sitting on the kitchen table and return Turtwig back before my dad could notice. Once everybody was gone, I raced upstairs to my room, locked my door, and hid my pokeball underneath my bed so that no one could get it. After that, I sat back on my bed, tuck in my knees, and cried.

My parents couldn't get passed my door and they pleaded for me to open it, but I wouldn't listen. I was too sad and angry to talk. Eventually they stopped trying and then came an argument downstairs that lasted throughout the night.

This was so unfair! I know at the beginning I had ask to not go on an adventure, but now I couldn't asked for anything more. I didn't know what to do now. What could a ten year old boy like me do?

After what felt like an hour of crying, an idea started forming in my head. I wiped away my tears and thought silently. It was a crazy idea, one that would leave my family hurt or even worse, and I was conflicted on whether I should do this or not. But if it meant that I could go on this journey, I had to take it.

By the time I had decided on the plan my parents had already stop arguing and gone to sleep. Turning on a light, I started writing a note on my desk. When I finish, I look towards the clock and found that it was going to be midnight soon so I hurried.

I changed into my normal cloths that I usually wear, grab my backpack, and starting filling it with supplies. After that, I sneak into my parent's room and took some money that I swore I would only use for food. Once I had everything I need, I left the note at the kitchen table, put on my running shoes, exited my house, and ran.

* * *

It wasn't long before I reach Jubilife city, a place I was familiar with for my dad took me there many times. On the way here, I had decided to skip the lab at Sandgem town for I didn't know if professor Rowan would have approved of my actions or not.

The city was vast and well populated, but I had no trouble finding my way. I guess I was lucky to be knocked out because my body felt rested and my mind clear of thought despite it being late at night. I found my way towards the pokemon center and was surprise to find that it was still open. I entered it for the first time, surprise by how warm the inside was. The center's lobby was empty of people, but the light and the machine at the desk was still on.

I walked in bit nervous than I should have until a women's voice came to welcome me. "Welcome to the pokemon center!" she said with a joyful tone as she came into the room to the front desk. She seems like a nice women, wearing a nurses uniform indicating that she works here. Her hair was bright pink and her eyes had a dark shade of blue. "You may call me Nurse Joy. Is your pokemon hurt or do you need a place to stay?"

She sounded so nice and friendly, but I still felt nervous talking to a stranger. "Um, sorry to bother you so late at night."

"Night?" she said in question, "It's almost 4 am in the morning, don't worry about it I'm always up this early to help any trainer. You however, must be tired to come here at this hour. So I'll give you a room key to stay the day in."

"N-no, that's all right. I wasn't really planning on staying here. I just want to know where the closest gym-"

"Nonsense," she said in another happy tone, "You look tired already and you're covered in sweat. You can just rest or sleep in your room for a few hours until the sun is up."

Now that I realized it, I was tired physical. Running all the way here must not have been the best decision but I wanted to get here as fast as I could. Knowing she was right, I took the key and slept in my room for a few hours. I woke up quickly for I had already slept early and it was already 6:30. A tad bit hungry, I ate some berries that I had store in my backpack and headed my way downstairs to ask where the next gym was. I called for Nurse Joy in the lobby but she was nowhere to be found.

I waited for her for a few minutes before giving up and decided to ask someone else. I dropped off my key and exited out the pokemon center to find a young boy trainer about my age out in the front. His hair was shaggy and was dark enough where I couldn't tell if it was black or brown. He wore a thick brown jacket over a white shirt and had blue shorts. On his head was a gray snow cap and to his side was a black backpack. He was currently training with a Chimchar by himself.

"Hey, excuse me?" I called out getting his attention. "I need some help on where the closest gym leader is and I was hoping if you could lead me in the direction?"

The boy thought for a moment before answering. He had a friendly voice when he spoke. "Don't you have a map that tells you where it is?" he asked.

"Oh, I wasn't given any map. I sort of just left without preparing much."

"Did you just start your journey?" I nodded and in response the boy grew a wide grin.

"Me too!" He held out a hand, "Here, my name is Alex from Canalave City and this is my partner Chimchar." Unlike Brian's pokemon, Alex's Chimchar was a more shy type like my Turtwig. It stood behind his trainer's leg as he was introduced.

Shaking his hand, I greeted him, "My names Kato from Twinleaf town, and my partner is Turtwig."

"My pokemon and I started our adventure just three days ago." He said very quickly, "So do you not know much about this?"

"What's there to know about?" I asked.

"Well, there's the stuff about catching pokemons, trading them, training, how items work, the balance in each type, how you should talk with your professor to store pokemons, how-"

"Ok! So I don't know everything about a journey. I just want to know where the nearest gym is."

Alex smirked at my answer. "Then how about we have a pokemon battle?"

"What?"

"It's basically a rule between pokemon trainers. When two people with pokemons have eye contact with each other, it usually signifies a challenge to a pokemon battle. Let's have a battle, and then I'll tell you everything I know. I started this journey alone so I don't really have a rival yet. Beside, in my book, you don't officially start your pokemon adventure until you at least have a battle with another trainer."

I was taken back by his words, and for some reason, for a brief moment I was reminded of my first encounter with a wild pokemon but I shrug the memory off. "You want to be my rival?"

"Yea I do! Come on, we'll have a battle right here." He and his Chimchar took a few steps back giving us room. "Come on Kato, release you pokemon and start your adventure."

Now it was my turn to smirk. I reach out into my bag and pulled out my pokeball. "Turtwig, come on out!" I release Turtwig from his ball, eager for a fight.

"Now we're talking!" Alex said excitedly. "Chimchar, let's get serious and use flamethrower!" Chimchar put on a serious face and launched a beam of fire from his mouth. The flame race towards us, and yet the once shy and lonely looking Turtwig stood confidently and admirable in this fight. And with just one move, my pokemon adventure had officially begun.

* * *

 **A/N And there you have it ladies and gentlemen! My first ever part to my first story! Man was this a long one so I hope this wasn't too overwhelming.**

 **Review if you like this (or if you didn't whatever is fine) I could really like to know your thoughts. I'm also thinking that after each chapter I can ask one question for anyone who reads this. The questions may not relate to the story's plot and may be just for me to know what you guy's are like and for me to know you better. If you don't like me asking random questions, just tell me so that I would know.**

 **For this question, I would like to know what is your favorite Region in Pokémon is and why? In case if you don't already know, my favorite region is Sinnoh because it was the first game I played and I loved the starters. However, I would picke Empoleon as my starter, but I felt bad for the gass types since they were the least popular. Well, to me at least and I really like Torterra.**

 **That's all for this prologue and I will explain Kato's psychic power later in the next chapter, maybe, most likely. Just to let you know, Kato having psychic power is not a random thing that I added into this story just for fun, (Even though it may seem like it in the beginning of the chapters) there is a plot that involves it and explains how he got it. Also, if you don't know, there is a specific part in this prologue where it shows that Kato actually gets his psychic powers, though it is not obviously said. The updating chapter part may take a lot longer than excepted but I'll try writing my best. Reviewing may help boast my productiveness so there is a reason to review there.**

 **I thank you all for reading and take care. ;)**

 **P.S I am so sorry for writing so much for a prologue but I just had to get this beginning out there.**

 ** _signed -The Grand Enchanter_ **


	2. Chapter 1: The end of a journey

**A/N: Finally,** **we** **lcome to the 1st somewhat official chapter of Pokémon Esprit. Writing chapters on a daily schedule is really difficult (for me at least) but I'm really trying to get out content as much as I can so I hope people don't get too upset about this.**

 **Anyways, before I leave I just want to clarify that the rules of the series is still here. I forgot to mention this on my last chapter, but the rule that this setting will take place in the world of the video game but with the logic of the anime, it also means that there are no physical or special types of attack or defense. I honestly think that the concept of that belongs in the videogame's logic, but not in with anime's logic.**

 **Now that we in the first chapter, we can finally get into where the story starts off, Anyways, if there is nothing else to discus, then I hope you enjoy this chapter and a great day!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't know if I need to do this or not but to be safe, I'm just going to say that I do not own anything Pokémon related. I only own this story and its characters. Okay now you can enjoy.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: The end of a journey**_

"We'll get serious too! Torterra, dodge the flamethrower and use stone edge!" Torterra, despite him being a heavy, oversized green and brown turtle that is known for his slowness, crouch low towards the ground and took a huge leap to the right. Using the powerful muscle within his legs, Torterra manage to avoid the flame beam, and with one stomp on the ground, a trail of stone pillars erupted from the earth and struck the other pokemon. Knocking them high into the air and landed hard on the ground.

An awed expression filled my opponents face. But not too long afterward, he began to smile and laugh with glee.

"Dang Kato!" He said with a joyful tone. "I swear, every time we meet you always surprise me in some way shape or form. I guess after all this time; I still can't get over it."

I smiled back at my opponent, "I'm glad you haven't changed much either Alex."

Alex looked back to his pokemon. His Infernape, the final evolution of Chimchar, stood back up with an annoyed expression. "This brings back a lot of memories of when we first met. When was that a year ago?"

"Not even close" I said laughing at his answer, "You must have some memory lost to say that. It has to be at least four years."

"Four years!" He said placing a hand behind his head. "It feels like it was only yesterday. I wonder if this battle will end with the same outcome as our first one."

"Hey, that was years ago. We've all grown up so any outcome can happen now."

"Let's see then shall we?" Alex put on his usual smirk, looking forward to this battle, "Infernape, get in close and use fire punch!"

The flaming monkey's hand became engulfed in flames and Infernape ran in close.

"Torterra use stone edge!" Stone pillars began erupting from the ground at Infernape's feet, but the red starter soon turns out to be very nimble and sidestep through all the attacks. It had little trouble getting close as it weaves past the erupting pillars. "Defend with protect!" My pokemon made a loud roar and a green shield went up in front of him, blocking the fire punch as it came.

"Infernape, jump into the air and use Fire Blast!" the fire type launched itself into the sky and fired a fiery projectile the shape of a symbol.

"Avoid it Torterra," Similar to the incident with the flamethrower, Torterra crouched down and leap backward to avoid the blast.

"Keep on using fire blast!" As Infernape landed on the ground, he started unleashing a series of the fire move.

I reminded myself that Infernape was a tricky target to catch and made a plan to counter his speed. Torterra leap from side to side trying to avoid the attack, but was then caught at the third blast. Regardless, the earth pokemon shook the attack off with minor damage.

"What?!" Alex questioned in shock.

"You didn't think me and Torterra grew soft after all this time did you?" I stated with a confident smile, "My pokemons and I went through some intense training since the last time we met. It would have been a downright shame if all that was for nothing."

"Take him out with Flare Blitz!" Suddenly, Infernape's entire body became engulfed in flames and then charges towards Torterra with great speed.

"Torterra, cover the battlefield with sandstorm and evade." My pokemon made a roar to the sky and large clumps of dust and sand started to engulf the area. At the last second, Torterra manage to leap to his right side, avoiding Infernape's charge attack with only a scratch.

As the fire type started coming out of his flare blitz, the field was already consume by the sandstorm, making it difficult for anyone to see and slowly damaging all pokemon in the area. Everyone, except my Torterra.

"Finish it with earthquake!"

"Infernape, jump as high as you can!" Alex said covering his face with his arms to block the sand. Infernape followed his trainer's voice and jump high as the ground shook and erupted.

I smiled at this opportunity.

Now was my chance to use it. I closed my eyes and focus my mind. I took a deep breath, and then all of a sudden, my perception of time slowed and my mind open up to the world. This is the result of my physic power. For a while, I never knew how I got this power, nor exactly what it is. For all I know, I could have been born like this or maybe this was some sort of accident. What I do understand is that this strange mental power of mine enhances my mind, to the point where I can think faster, smarter, and be able to sense the presence of others. I could even tell how strong my opponents are if I focus hard enough. It was a powerful asset in battle, so gave this mode a name. I called it, Esprit.

I visualize and scan the battle field; not with my eyes, but with my mind. The world turn to a light shade of blue and all I saw were me, the pokemons, and Alex all frozen in my perspective. I saw Infernape stuck in the air so I acted fast. This mental power only last for about four minutes in my perceptive, and after that I have to wait the same time used in order activate Esprit again. But time doesn't matter because while I'm in this state, my brain works and process information much faster than it normally would.

I focus on the two pokemon's distance and made a note on Infernape's speed and reaction time. Judging on how Infernape's movement in the air is, he will most likely land and slide to a position that I predicted to be one hundred twenty degrees from Torterra. I judge that the fire pokemon would land in less than three second and I had my plan.

Quickly exiting the mental world, I shouted as quickly as I could, "Giga Impact on your back right!" At the instance my words left my tongue, Torterra jump and turn, facing Infernape's direction. Then the earth pokemon's body became shrouded in a light purple aura and blasted towards the fire pokemon at rocket speed.

Thanks to the sandstorm being an annoyance to anyone who wasn't a rock, ground, or steel type, Infernape's reaction time slowed and unfortunately couldn't avoid Torterra's charge attack. The fire pokemon made a grunt of pain as he was tackled by Torterra.

An explosion of smoke cover the area, and as the dust cleared, so did the sandstorm. Infernape laid flat on his stomach outside of the battle ground. I wasn't sure if Infernape fainted or not because I was having too much fun looking at Alex's face.

"What just happen?" he said in a mostly confused but awed state, "how the heck did you react so quickly to my move?" I tried my best to hold back my laughter and excitement from his reaction. I can't wait to see his face when I explain everything to him. I wonder if he'll understand or believe it.

But before I could say another word, the wounded Infernape slowly got back up to his feet. In one quick motion, the flame pokemon let out a loud roar in rage. All signs of fatigue faded from his face as the fire on the pokemon's head intensify, causing the flame to burn hotter and larger.

"Blaze," I said commenting on Infernape's special ability, "Whenever Infernape has taken enough damage or is on the edge of losing, his overall fire type moves increase in power by a large amount. But because it activates when the pokemon is on low health, the next attack it takes will likely be the last."

"Glad to see your knowledge of battling is still as sharp as ever." commented Alex now paying attention to the match. "But just because we're against the wall doesn't mean this battle is over."

"I'm glad to know that you're still the aggressive and stubborn type. I like that trait; you don't give up even with the odds are against you."

"I guess we all can be a little stubborn sometimes. "Alex stated, "But after this I hope you can finally explain to me what has been going on with you."

"So you mean I tell you everything when I get everyone together or when I beat you in this match?"

"We'll see who beats who! Infernape use agility!" As the flames blaze with heat, Infernape's body began to channel a white aura around his body, increasing his already high speed. "Now use fire punch!"

"Use stone edge!" I called out. Torterra stomped on the ground and stone pillars erupted from the ground.

With great speed, Infernape charged towards Torterra, managing to avoid all of the stone pillars in the process. Unfortunately, Torterra couldn't keep up with Infernape's now enhance speed and took the fire punch directly to the head. Torterra grunted in discomfort but stood his ground.

"Get some distance away from him!" I called out to my pokemon. Using the trained muscle within his legs again, Torterra leap backwards away from his opponent. Infernape wasn't just fast, he was powerful too. "Use razor leaf!"

"Avoid them Infernape!" Using some acrobatics and his high speed, Infernape dodge the assault of leaves but not without difficulty.

"Infernape hid your location with double team!" Suddenly, fake images of Infernape began to form around Torterra. "Use Fire Punch again!" At the same time, the copies of Infernape all charge towards the center of Torterra.

"I guess now's the time to end this." I said looking towards my pokemon who nodded in response, "Torterra, surround yourself with Frenzy Plant!" Before the clones could connect, several giant vines erupted from the gearth around Torterra. Each vine stopped the clones in their path, preventing them from attacking directly.

"Now take them all down!" I said. Torterra swayed and the giant vines came up in the air and then smash downwards, catching a few Infernape clones in the process while some escape. The vines didn't stop there. As Torterra's plants lay on the ground, each started to move from left to right, wiping at nearby Infernapes.

"Keep yourself hidden again with double team." Alex said to Infernape. More flame pokemons started materializing on the field again.

I focused my mind and activate Esprit again, clearing my thoughts and slowing my perspective of time. The world around me stopped and I scan the presence of my opponent. Since the clones were just illusions, I could easily tell the fake Infernapes from the real one. The real Infernape stood about ten meters to the upper right side of Torterra, running on the side of the field.

I closed out of my mental world and came back to reality. "Torterra! Focus you attack to your right!" The earth pokemon understood my call and summon the gigantic vines down on the real Infernape who was too surprised to dodge.

Torterra may have gone a little bit too far as he willed four vines to slam against the flame pokemon, resulting in a loud explosion like sound which shook the earth and dust covering the area. As everything began to settle down, the frenzy plant began to disappear. The fainted Infernape laid flat on the ground in defeat. Alex, even though he lost the match, stood with a gentle smile.

"All right!" I exclaimed in victory. I ran up on the battlefield and jump onto my pokemon's back. Or shell if you want to see it that way. "You did great buddy. We're definitely going to win tomorrow." Torterra smile back at me, his face filled with confidence. I noticed he wanted to say something so I smiled and activated my Esprit to connect my mind with my pokemon. Oh yeah, did I also mention that I could talk with pokemons with this power? I guess it's a silly thing to do as an idea but in reality, its actually a great way to communicate with my pokemons.

 _"Infernape was a worthy opponent to face, but after all we've been through this won't stop us right Kato?"_ Said Torterra through my mind in a deep but kind voice.

 _"Yeah, I'm sure nothing can stop us the way we are now. But are you sure your ready to fight tomorrow?"_ I asked back.

 _"Hey, don't underestimate me kid. I'm not some old pokemon ready to go to sleep. I can take anything the world throws at me."_

 _"You do sound like you're trying to be older than me."_

 _"That's just me trying to spread some wisdom onto you. Somebody has to."_

 _"I'm not sure calling yourself strong and confident is exactly wisdom. I think a better description would have to be... Egotism?"_

 _"HEY!"_

 _"Just kidding."_ I lightly chuckled to myself and I earn a semi aggressive nudge from Torterra's shoulders.

"Return, Infernape." I heard Alex say, returning Infernape back into his pokeball. He was still smiling when he walked up towards me, "Kato, you are one heck of a trainer."

"Thanks, but it's my pokemons that deserve the respect, not me."

"Don't say that," Alex said walking up and punching me lightly on my shoulder. "Anybody can work to become strong physically, but you have to work even harder to become strong mentally." You have no idea, I thought. "But you've got to tell me how you did all that stuff with knowing where my pokemon was and where he'll be."

"Well, every battle is a strategy and every strategy comes from a battle."

"Come on, again with that saying?" Alex said annoyed with my usual quote that I always say to him

"Don't worry, you'll find out later," I said turning away from Alex. "Let's go back inside; we have lots of stuff to talk about."

"Before we go Kato, do you mind if you can clear the fog away from this place." asked Alex.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I want to see the landscape again from up here. You've got to admit that the view from the top of this waterfall is pretty amazing right?"

I smile back at him. "Sure, why not." I jump off my pokemon and drew out a pokeball from my bag. "Rotom, I need your assistance." I release Rotom from its ball, revealing an orange, lightning rod shape Pokémon with light blue eyes. When out of its pokeball, it had a wide smile and made a little chattering static sound as if it was laughing.

"Rotom, can you use Defog to clear the area?" The plasma pokemon responded with a static noise which I assumed was a laugh and flew upward. Its body then began to glow in a cyan light and the fog that covered the landscape began to move. A few seconds later, the large area of fog dissolve, allowing the sun to finally shine and the landscape to be in view. I activate Esprit to him and said _"Thanks for that buddy."_

 _"No problem_ _boss."_ Rotom said cheerfully.

Alex let out a short whistle and placed both hands behind his head as the land began to take shape. "I've got to admit, the league picked an amazing spot to build this place." He gazes out besides the top left side of the water fall. I return Rotom back into his ball and shared the view with him.

I took in the scenery, a small but long breeze blowing through my hair. We were on top of a short but wide mountain with a large waterfall flowing down the middle of it. A large forest surrounded the bottom area followed by the ocean off of the shore. It was a beautiful piece of nature, but what stood out for me was not the view or the waterfall. It was the fact that on an island with little to no civilization on it and was mostly covered with green, there was the one building that stood in the center of it that shined like a gem in the sand.

I looked behind me, admiring said building. It was designed like a cathedral with five towers connected to it and a poke ball shape symbol on the front window. "We've come a long way to get here." I said out loud.

"You've come a long way to get here." Alex corrected emphasizing on the word you've. "I'm not going to challenge those guys today."

"Why not?" I said in a bit of a complaining way. "We have waited years for this, the least you can do is try."

Alex shook his head as he answer, "I'm not strong enough to compete with them unlike you. Plus, I know this type of life style isn't cut out for me."

I sign a bit but I understand where he was coming from.

"Come on." He said walking back and placing a hand on my left shoulder. "Let's get back inside, heal our Pokémon, and talk about what's been going on and why you call me out here all of a sudden."

"Sure, and let's get something to eat too, I'm starving."

"As long as you're paying for the both of us."

"Hey! Why should I be the one to pay?"

"Because you're the one who called me out here in the first place dummy." He said laughing.

"How about we have a race instead?" I said walking in front of him. "The last one in has to pay."

"Okay first of all, you're being way too competitive today." He said, "And second, you just made a deal that you won't win."

I took off running, "First one there gets to eat whatever he wants!"

"Hey! You can't just make a bet and run off like that!"

"Can and just did!" I shouted back.

"Oh you son of… wait up!" Alex rush back to the building at the center of the island.

It was an amazing feeling to finally meet like this since I've been in isolation for about two and a half years. Well, in actuality it was two years and seven months, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Laughter echo from the front door of the cathedral as we both enter its door step. It was both happy, yet sad at the same time. Soon, tomorrow will mark the day where my pokemon adventure ends. Tomorrow will be the day when I finally challenge the Elite Four.

* * *

"Did that really happen?!" asked Alex eagerly as he was eating a taco.

"Yep, Hoenn is quite a crazy place. Really different compare to Sinnoh, but since the climate there is a desert compare to this place, I don't think I'm ever going to return soon." I said shuddering with the memory of the weather there.

"What else did you do there?" Alex began asking questions quickly, "Did you meet anybody important or did you fight any new pokemon that I never heard of? Did you fight any of those new mega evolutions that had been on the news? What about the professor there? Did you manage to talk to him? What about the legendries? Oh wait! Can you at least tell me how the beach girls there were? Since Hoenn is a tropical island, they have to have a bunch of-"

Alex was soon interrupted as I chuck a cup full of water at him, leaving his upper body partly wet.

"Dude, what was that for?" He asked plainly.

"There are other people inside this pokemon center that can hear us you know." I whisper in an angry tone, "Talk like that and will be kicked out for being suspected as perverts! Then I'll never be able to challenge Cynthia."

Alex placed a hand underneath his chin and an elbow on the table. "That's so strange how you and the champion of Sinnoh know each other like best friends since the first year of your journey."

I took a sip from my cup. "I wouldn't exactly call us best friends. We're more like, I don't know, training buddies?"

"Training buddies." Alex repeated.

"Hey, I can't think of everything about every situation."

"No, but you are able to calculate strategies on the battle field in less than a second."

I shrugged at his comment and said nothing, taking another sip from my cup and soup.

"So are you sure that you know nothing of this, 'Esprit' of yours?" Alex asked.

"Nope, the only thing I do know is that it started showing up since the beginning of my adventure and started getting stronger as time went on."

"Whelp, maybe you had some sort of accident and you forgot about it."

"I highly doubt that."

"Well, I guess that explains how you got so strong over the years. I still can't believe that you can talk to pokemon with that power. Sill, isn't it, like, cheating to be using psychic powers against people in battle?" Brian asked in curiosity

"Hey, if it's a power that belongs to me and I am able to use without harming others or myself, it shouldn't be a problem." I said with mild confidence. "Although, I have decided to not rely on my Esprit during my battles with the elite four and the champion, nor will I even talk to my pokemon through it. I want to prove to both myself and to the people who know about this that I am strong without this power."

"Okay then," Alex said satisfied. "So, in other words you're purposely limiting yourself to prove just how strong you are."

I let out a little chuckle at his remark. "Sure, if you want to put it that way. But I'm still planning on using Esprit if my back is against the corner."

We then took a few minutes of silence to finish our food and rest up. It's been a pretty long conversation as we both review what happen on our journey. To summarize it up, I took my first two years of my pokemon journey very slowly. Beating other trainers and gym leaders, seeing some of the landmarks within Sinnoh, and I even manage to beat up an evil organization and make huge discoveries with Cynthia. It's kind of a long story. After the first two years, I realized my mental powers began to become stronger, but at the same time, unstable. It was a major problem for me and after seeing just how strong the Elite Four was at the time, I decided to start training myself to better control my powers and make my pokemons stronger.

"You know, I'm kind of glad you called me up here." Alex said breaking the silence. "After two years of training on top of that mountain, I was starting to worry if you were still alive or not."

"Yeah well, originally I was kind of hoping to stay there for another year or two." I said feeling a bit bored.

"Seriously?! Come on, I know we live in one of the coldest place in the world but not even we can live on top of that mountain for two years alone."

"Ok first of all," I said giving him a look of annoyance. "It took placed on the side of Mt. Coronet, not on top. Second, it was two years and seven months, much longer than you would expect. Third, I wasn't living there alone; an old man named Kumo built a cabin there and allowed me to stay with him. And finally, it is possible to live on Mt. Coronet alone, as stated by Kumo."

Alex sat there puzzled at his seat for couple of seconds.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't tell me," Alex began with a sigh, "that after the two long years on top of that mountain-"

"Two years and seven months and on the mountain's side."

"-the only thing that changed about your personality is that you now have a habit of correcting people and stating every little information in a specific way?"

"Well technically, I didn't discuss every single information in a-"

"It doesn't matter!" Alex sighs and placed a hand on his forehead. "Kato, you don't have go around and talk about every single detail about something. If you do, then you'll just annoy more people."

Alex than sat back in his chair and took a sip from his cup. I took his words into consideration. I guess it has been a while since I talked to any person that I knew.

"All right," I said getting up from my chair. "It's about time I call it for the day and start preparing for tomorrow."

"Wait a minute; you said you had something else to tell me." Alex said stopping me from going.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." I sat back down and took in a deep breath. "Three days from now, I am planning on leaving Sinnoh and spending some time in Kalos for a month or more."

"The Kalos region? Are you trying to find a way to get stronger through that mega thing?"

"Mega evolution," I corrected. "And no, the reason why I'm going is because I am meeting a man there that has caught my attention."

"What do you mean by that?" Alex question.

"One day, while I was still on Mt. Coronet, a messenger came all the way from the Kalos region in order to find me. The person who sent that message said that he knew who, or more accurately, what I was and that he was exactly like me."

There was a short, silent pause before Alex started talking again. "Someone like you?" He repeated.

"Yes, apparently I'm not the only one with this strange mental power. I assume that this mysterious man is saying that he has the same power or can do the same stuff as I can. Of course I was skeptical at first, but then I realize that his message interested me to much to ignore."

Alex lay back in his chair and thought for a moment. "So what does he want with you?"

"He said he wanted to talk to me for a while now," I answered. "or someone like me. He was saying that I could be a big piece in a little project that he has that could potentially help the world."

"Do you know what this 'little project' is?"

"Something about bringing a better relationship with people and pokemon."

Alex took a good six second to process the information in before taking, "Sound's too suspicious to me. I mean, that sounds too much like an evil plan to me."

"Yeah, but what if he's telling the truth? I've been living with this power for a while now and I would like to know where it came from."

Alex let out a loud exhale. "All right then, what's going to happen now?"

"I called everyone that was on the journey with us. We're going to meet together the day after tomorrow at my hometown at around one. That's when I plan to tell them everything that has happen."

"Oh good, it's been a while since we got the group together." Alex commented. "But are you sure that you want to meet in Twinleaf town?

"Yes, it's about time I meet my family again after all these years." I said with the feeling of regret from the memories.

After another pause, Alex stood up from his seat. "Well, I guess I should let you get some rest for tomorrow." He grabs his backpack and started heading towards the entrance of the pokemon center within the cathedral.

I waved at him. "See'ya later Alex!"

Alex waved back. "See you later, future champion."

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter completed!**

 **Again, writing chapters like this can be really hard to keep in order for me so please be patient.**

 **Okay, for the question of the chapter: Who is your favorite legendary pokemon and why? I guess my favorite legendary would be Arceus since he's basically God, but I also like him for how much of a badass he was in his movie. I mean come on, he single handily took on not one, not two, but THREE legendary pokemons all at the same time with ease. Not including the fact the those three legendries were also basically gods in there own respective ways.**

 **Tell me, was this chapter too short because I felt it was compare to the prologue, but give me your thoughts on the length of chapters.**

 **Also, the next two chapters may feature a lot (and I mean A LOT) of action in its content so I hope it doesn't bother people too much.**

 **Don't forget to review it could really help me and with my productiveness with this story and I wish you all a great day.**

 _ **Signed -The Grand Enchanter**_


	3. Chapter 2: The Final Battle

**A/N: And here we go again! Another Chapter completed! I know it may not seem much to you guys but these things take forever to write, so it's so satisfying to see something like this complete. Anyways, I going to try and make it a habit of keeping these introduction brief so I'll let you go into the story. I hope you all have a wonderful day!**

 **Disclaimer: Just to be safe, I do not own any form of pokemon or whatsoever, I only own this story and its people.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2: The Final Battle**_

The sun was about to set by the time I reach the final floor. Yesterday had been a short reunion with my friend Alex as well as a farewell to my past. Tomorrow will be the day I meet with my friends and family as well as leaving them for Kalos. But today will be the day I finally challenge the goal that I have been striving for all these years, defeating the champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia.

I open the door to a room that resides at the top floor of the cathedral. The room reveals a large but plain battle field, clean for the next battle. The room was wide and had a high ceiling. At both side of the court were large stain mirrors, showing the outside of the forest and sky.

Today, I had put on my usual cloths that I had bought for this occasion. It was a dark green jacket, light gray jeans, a light blue undershirt with a pokeball symbol on it, and a necklace with a leaf stone symbol on it. The room was empty and dark, aside from the somewhat orange and blue light that shown through the window above the stage.

As I walk up to the section of the court that I would normally be in for a battle, the lights that were off in the room suddenly turn on. This reveals a blond hair women dress in black clothing standing on the other side of the battle field. She gave me a welcoming glance as I met her gaze.

"Welcome," She announce raising both her hands up to her sides, "to the final challenge of the Sinnoh League! I've been waiting for this for a long time Kato."

"I can't say I feel the same way." I replied, "To be honest, I've been nervous of this moment from the very beginning Cynthia."

She gave me a small smile at my answer. "So how have you been? Have the other elite four members given you a hard time?"

"Nothing I can't deal with." I answer her simply. "But they were far stronger than all of the other normal trainers I've dealt with."

"I see." She said, "A couple of months ago, I had started to conduct research on the topic of Mega Evolution; though it still remains a mystery on how it works."

"Oh yea," I replied in realization, "I've heard about those transformation before but I never really got the chance to see it in action."

"Maybe once this is over, I can show you some of the researches that I have been studying on."

I gave her a smile at her suggestion, "Sure, I would love to."

"Then what of your pokemons?" She asked, "Do you still have the same six pokemons from your journey or did you change your team?"

"Yep, I still have the same six pokemons that I had throughout my journey. I don't need any other to win this."

"There is always the choice of resigning now and be done with all this," She commented. "Do you still wish to battle?"

"Too late to back down now."

"Very well then." Cynthia look to her left and a man that was standing on the side lines came up to the middle side of the court.

"This will be a battle for the title of champion between the current champion of Sinnoh Cynthia verses the challenger Kato from Twinleaf Town!" the referee announce. "The match will feature all six pokemons. The first trainer that loses all six of his or her pokemons first will be the decided loser of this match. Trainers, release you pokemon!"

"Let us begin this," stated Cynthia. "Spiritomb, battle dance!" Cynthia releases a pokemon out of its ball, revealing a purple spirit with green orbs circling within it. Its face had a wicked expression on it as if it was crazy.

"Let us show them how far we've come." I remark. "Our hearts are one, Rotom!" I threw out Rotom who has currently taken shape in his fan form, making him an electric and flying type. Rotom took the shape of a floating, orange fan with a grinning face at the bottom of it. I connected my mind to him with Esprit.

 _"You ready for this Rotom?"_

 _"Don't worry boss, this poor imitation of a Gastly ain't got nothing on me_." Rotom has always been like this. Loyal, but not in the way you would imagine. More of a weird way of it. He's a bit overprotective of me and would even come out of his pokeball on his own if somebody tries to threaten me, but other than that, he is a good companion.

"I see your Rotom has changed its form." Cynthia commented. "Come, show me just how strong you've become since the last time I saw you!"

The referee raised his hand in the air and brought it down in a forward motion. "Let the match begin!"

"Rotom, use Electro Ball!" The battle had begun. Fan Rotom immediately charged up a ball of electricity and launched it at Spiritomb.

"Intercept it with Shadow Ball." Commanded Cynthia. Spiritomb launch a ball of darkness and the two attacks collided, creating a small smoke screen as a result.

"Gain higher altitude and use charge beam!" Rotom floated above the puff of smoke and launch a yellow beam of electricity.

"Avoid it Spiritomb!" In a brief moment, Spiritomb flew out of the beam and rose to the same height level as Rotom. "Now use Rock tomb!"

"Cut them all down with Air Slash!" I cried out. Spiritomb summon and launch a volley of boulders and in return, Rotom sent out slashes of air to intercept them.

"Double team Spiritomb." Said Cynthia. Fake copies of Spiritomb started materializing around Rotom. "Now use Dark Pulse!"

"Keep on cutting him with Air Slash!" Rotom slice Spirtomb's dark plus and started using it consecutively, destroying the other clones in the process.

"Foul Play!" A dark aura began to envelope around Spiritomb's body and it charge towards Rotom. The two clash with a white slash and a black aura, both exchanging attacks midflight as they fight. But thanks to Rotom being faster than Spiritomb, he was able to keep up and avoid taking major damage.

"All right Rotom, change the skies with Rain Dance!" Rotom started summoning rainclouds from within the gym, causing it to pour inside the room.

"Rain Dance? What's he doing?" Cynthia quietly said to herself. "Use Rock Tomb Spiritomb!" Boulders were again summoned and launch from the spirit pokemon.

"Double Team Rotom!" Rotom made a quick buzzing sound, which I recognized as his laughter, and dozens of copies materialized around the battlefield, causing the rock tomb to miss. "Now use Charge!" The unknown Rotom started storing electrical energy within his body, preparing to unleash it for the next attack.

"I see what you're doing now Kato!" Shouted Cynthia. "And I won't allow it. Hide your presence with double team!" By now the whole floor was covered with copies of Spiritombs and Rotoms. "Now use Rock Tomb on the whole area!"

"Sorry Cynthia, but that won't work!" I said with confident as dozens of boulders were summon and flying towards my pokemon. "Rotom, finish it off with Discharge!" Rotom grunted and release a powerful wave of electricity in all direction, directly destroying all boulders and taking out all the fake Spirit tombs along with attacking the real one. Once the attack was over, Spiritomb fell towards the floor in defeat.

"Spiritomb is unable to battle." The referee stated, "The victory goes to Rotom."

 _"ALL RIGHT!"_ cried out Rotom which made me flinch. _"Nice going out there boss."_

 _"Thanks, but all of that wouldn't have happen if it wasn't for you Rotom,"_ I messaged back.

 _"Aww, you don't need to be polite like that. No matter what there's nothing that can bring me down!"_

I release the breath that I was holding and started smiling. Then I heard clapping from Cynthia herself.

"Nice moves Kato," She commented, "Great job using the water from Rain Dance and the extra power up from Charge to inflict massive damage onto Spiritomb."

"Well, it's not like I didn't come here unprepared." I told her. She nodded her head and brought out another pokeball.

"Return Spiritomb," She called out to withdraw her pokemon. "Now, let us fight together, Roserade!" Cynthia releases a green, plantlike pokemon with flowers for both of her hands, one blue and the other red. A green cape rested behind the pokemons back and had white hair the shape of a flower.

"Nice job Rotom." I said as I return my pokemon back into his poke ball. I grabbed another enclosed poke ball from my bag and expanded it. "Floatzel, come on out!" I release my next pokemon out; a tall, orange pokemon with a large, life vest like device strapped to its upper body. He had two blue fins connected to both of his elbows and two tails as well. Once he was out, Floatzel let out a loud roar to show his presence.

 _"Finally I'm out. What took you so long knucklehead I was getting impatient."_ Complained Floatzel as I connect our minds.

 _"You see that pokemon in front of you Floatzel?"_ I asked.

 _"What, you mean the little grass princess over there?"_

 _"You think you can take her on?"_

 _"Please, who the hell do you think I_ _am knucklehead?_ " I smiled at his answer. I'm glad he still has his cocky attitude, despite it getting annoying some times.

"A grass type vs a water type? That is an interesting choice." Cynthia commented.

I smiled as Floatzel cracked his neck and got into position. Despite not looking much, Floatzel is known to be one of my heavy hitters. And thanks to Floatzel's Swift Swim ability, his overall speed has double thanks to the rain from Rotom. Cynthia will underestimate me if she's not careful.

"Let the next battle commence." The announcer called.

* * *

A soft gust of wind blew by, swaying the grass and trees from back to forth. The gentle sunlight covered the hills and land of the peaceful community of Twinleaf town. It was just another normal day for everyone, with people and pokemon roaming the landscape doing their business. But it was a tiring day for a certain brown hair boy who was currently standing underneath a tree with a drink, relaxing within its shade.

"Brian!" shouted a joyful voice which cause the boy to jump in surprise. He looks around for the person calling him and spotted another light brown hair girl, running and waving towards him with a smile.

Another smile began to form on the boy's face as the girl came closer. "Hey Sophie! Whatcha doing here-" He was soon interrupted as the girl tackled him down with a hug, laughing in the process.

"Hey contest girl," Brian said with a hit of laughter, "how have you been doing?"

"Amazing! I'm so glad to see you again after all this time!" Sophie said enthusiastically as she step backed.

"Well, welcome back to Twinleaf Town. When did you get here?"

"I just arrived a few minutes ago. Has anything changed much since the last time I was here?"

"Nope, everything is still as ordinary as ever." Brian replied.

"Yeah, I guess it's not bad nothing is really different," Sophie stated as she looks around the town. "But can you really believe that Kato is finally coming home after all these years? I can't wait!"

"Wait, what?" Brian said in a confusing and surprising tone. "What do you mean Kato is coming back?"

"Well, didn't you receive the messages he left us on our pokètech?" She answered showing her pokètech watch to Brian. "He made an announcement that he will be returning back home and wants us all there for a reunion."

Brian scans the message on Sophie's watch. "No, I never got any message like that."

"Well, I checked with Anna and she already got the message before I did." Then Sophie narrowed her eyes and said, "Where you two fighting again?"

"Well…" Brian stated advoiding eye contact from Sophie.

"Brian!" Sophie shouted hitting him on his head. "You can't just stay mad at him after all that he went through. Even if what he did in the past was the wrong decision, that was years ago."

"I know," sigh Brian while rubbing his head. "But it's just that he hasn't even bother to visit nor see his family after all this time. Though, once he comes here, he is going to be real surprise at what he finds."

At the thought of the idea, Sophie lost her frown and replaced it with a wide grin. "Yeah he is; I can't wait for Kato to finally meet her! Oh, just imagine his face when he comes home!"

"By the way," Brian question, "If everyone is coming here for a reunion, then where are they now?"

"Well," Sophie began, "Jacob is in Hoenn on some kind of business trip while Anna is in Unova for some kind of performance, so I don't know if they will be coming or not. I don't know where Brand is but Alex said he's coming. We all were supposed to come here tomorrow but I wanted to arrive a day earlier to settle in."

Brian exhaled a breath. "Well, in that case why don't you come over to my house for dinner? We're having curry tonight."

"Sure why not," replied Sophie, "Later though, I want to see Kato's family again to see how they're doing."

"Where is the guy anyway?" complained Brian. "What's he doing that would make him want to go home after all this time?"

* * *

"Roserade, use Magical Leaf!"

"Avoid them all with Dig!" Roserade launched dozens of purple shaded leaves at Floatzel, who in return dives deep into the earth to dodge it.

"Stand by Roserade and prepare for his next move." Commanded the patient Cynthia. A few seconds went by with only the rumble in the earth as the sound; Roserade stood still, waiting for her enemy to come. In a second, Floatzel erupted from the ground behind Roserade, attempting to strike from behind. But to my surprise, Roserade just as quickly steps out of my pokemon's path without even looking.

"Now use Energy Ball!" yelled Cynthia. As Floatzel tumble back from his last attack, a green ball of energy was already flying towards him.

"Floatzel, knock it away with Brick Brick!" Swiftly, Floatzel's left arm began to glow white with energy and he backhands the attack away from him, causing a small explosion to the side.

That was quite impressive. Cynthia's pokemon has some pretty sharp reflexes to dodge an attack from that range. Even with Floatzel's Swift Swim speed Roserade had no trouble predicting his moves. If I want to beat this pokemon, I'll have to finish it quickly with a surprise.

"Floatzel, get in close and use ice punch!"

"Counter with Bullet Seed!" Roserade started shooting out a barrage of seeds towards the water type pokemon, but thanks Floatzel's speed, he was able to close to gap and dodge the spread.

"Roserade, use Poison Jab." The flower pokemon met Floatzel's ice encase fist with a poisonous one. The two pokemon began to trade blows of ice and poison. While Floatzel was faster, Roserade had far better reaction time and could easily keep up "Now use Magical Leaf!" repeated Cynthia.

"Gain some distance!" I cried out. As Floatzel hurriedly shift backward, leaves with a purple aura were sent flying towards him.

"There's no way for you to dodge a magical leaf Kato." Stated Cynthia as Floatzel began to ran from the leaves, "No matter how much your Floatzel avoids the attack, Magical Leaf is a move that will never miss." And she was right, as my water type pokemon began to side step and evade, the purple leaves would simply pivot and try again.

A swarm of leaves began to surround Floatzel. Eventually, a couple of the flying leaves manage to hit Floatzel at his sides, grunting from the pain. Thankfully, he was still able to continue to dodge most of it with his speed. I needed think. I know Cynthia is expecting me to use dig again to get out of this attack like last time, so I can't risk using it if she's planning to set me up.

"Floatzel, it's time to go faster with Agility!" With that, a white aura started to surround Floatzel and his already insane speed rose again. This time, my pokemon's movement became fast enough of moving faster than the projectiles. But no matter what happen the magical leaves still flew.

"If you want to be like that then I'll just add some more." Declare Cynthia, "Now Roserade, keep on using Magical Leaf!" The flower pokemon then sent out more purple shaded leaves toward the water pokemon, making it seem as if it was a magical leaf storm.

Now I was in trouble. I tried thinking to myself and I was tempted to use my Esprit, but then I remember that I promised myself that I wouldn't use it in battle for the Elite Four. Frustrated with myself, I decided that out best choice would be to reveal Floatzels little new trick.

I thought it all over before deciding and yelled, "All right Floatzel! Let's show them what you've been training for all this time." Floatzel quickly look over to me and gave a cocky grin.

 _"About time!" t_ he water type said. _"These leaves were getting really freaking annoying!"_

I scanned the area around Floatzel as Cynthia gave me a skeptical look. Once I finally saw an opening in the leaves, I quickly went into action. "Floatzel, fly with Aqua Jet!"

In a confident motion, Floatzel surrounded his body in a water aura and shot straight up towards the sky. The magical leaves turned to follow him, but this time Floatzel has more space dodge thanks to aqua jet allowing him to fly briefly. With another boost of speed, the leaves were too slow to catch up thanks to Floatzel's further enhance aqua jet speed.

"He's using aqua jet as a flying mobility move?" Cynthia question to herself.

I gave a small smirk at the battle. "Now, get behind Roserade and use her as a shield!" In a quick flash of water, Floatzel suddenly disappear then reappear behind Roserade, grabbing and pulling both of her arms behind before she could react.

The flower pokemon grimace in resistance but was unable to move and was force to tank her own magical leaves as they came flying back towards her, failing to hit Floatzel.

"Now use Ice Fang!" I called out. The jaws of my pokemon became envelope in ice and was then brought down on Roserade's shoulder. The grass type struggle desperately to get out by was unsuccessful.

"Hurry and use Energy Ball on the ground!" Called out Cynthia with a hint of panic in her voice. Using one of her arms to shoot, Roserade exploded the ground with her attack, separating the two in the process. "Now use Magical Leaf again!"

"Aqua Jet offensively!" Before Roserade had time to use her move, she was hit by Floatzel's dash attack. "Don't leave her room to attack. Keep at it with more Aqua Jets!" Like the magical leaves from before, Floatzel zip around the battlefield with his water dash, hitting the Roserade repeatedly and preventing her from attacking.

"Roserade, attack in all direction with Leaf Storm!" In an act of rage, Roserade let out a roar and sent out hundreds of powerful leaves in all direction. The water type pokemon stopped his consecutive attack and switch to an evasive tactic.

"Dig then Ice Punch!" I yelled out to my pokemon. Quickly digging into the earth, Floatzel suddenly appear below Roserade from the ground. With his fist covered in an icy aura, Floatzel sent his punch in an upper cut fashion, dealing a direct hit to the flower pokemon and launching her up in the process.

Roserade fell with to the ground, fainted from the impact. "Roserade is unable to battle. Floatzel is now the victor of this match!" Announce the referee.

"Amazing speed." Commended Cynthia clapping, "With all that speed power up from the rain and the aqua jet, not even my Roserade could react."

"Thanks, since my Floatzel was never really a defensive type, I focus almost my entire time training his speed and strength. Although, if he had taken another direct attack from you again, the battle would have been over for me." Floatzel in response turn back to me with an annoyed look.

 _"Please,"_ He complained in a cocky tone. " _Have a little bit more faith in me. I could have tanked another hit or two."_

 _"Only two? That's surprising."_

 _"Hey! I can be humble sometimes."_ I giggled at his answer.

"Return Roserade." Cynthia commanded and returns her pokemon back into her ball. "You have already overpowered two of my pokemons while I have defeated none of yours. I will have to change things up a bit then." Cynthia pulled out a third poke ball from her belt.

"Take a break Floatzel." I called out, mimicking Cynthia and drawing out another poke ball from my bag. "All right, let's do this again." With that we both released our pokemon into the battle field.

"Flygon, show em what we've got!" I exclaimed, letting out my pokemon.

"I request your aid Lucario!" said Cynthia.

Flygon is a large, green dragon pokemon with wings and eyes that have some attributes of a flying bug. Despite her appearance, she is actually a ground-dragon type pokemon rather than a bug-dragon type. After getting out of her ball, Flygon stretched out her body and looked towards me with a nod, a sign that meant we would communicate. I connect our minds with Esprit.

 _"Have you develop a plan for this youngling?"_ Flygon asked in a serene voice.

 _"Kind of, but that won't matter against a opponent so versatile."_ I said looking at Lucario. _"I wasn't playing battling him so soon. Making plans may help, but it won't guarantee the victory._

Lucario took on a hound like appearance with blue and black fur with a soft yellow color fur in his center body area. He stood up on his two legs and had three mini spikes on his body. One on each hand and a small spike at the center of his chest. Lucario, being a fighting and steel type pokemon, was a well-known and powerful pokemon to many people in Sinnoh. This will be a challenge.

"Are you ready for this Kato?" Cynthia asked with a confident tone.

"Bring it on; I can do this all day, kind of." I said feeling a bit of anxiety for this battle, knowing just how capable Lucario was.

 _"Worry not_ _youngling, I shall fight with my full potential."_ Flygon said feeling my concern.

The referee came up again to the side of the court. "May the next battle…..Commence!"

"Lucario, use Ice punch!" Like Floatzel's battle from before, Lucarios fist became encrusted in a glowing blue ice. Quickly, he dash straight across the field with his opponent in his sights.

"Flygon, defend yourself with Dragon Claw!" As the fighting type pokemon ran in close with his ice fist, both of Flygons claw expanded out into a green energy attack and shielded against the onslaught. Despite ice type attacks being very effective against dragon type pokemon, Flygon manage to withstand the attack.

"Lucario, keep at him with high jump kick!" commanded Cynthia. Adjusting his footsteps and putting on a fighting stance, Lucario's right leg began to glow white with energy. In a quick motion, he leapt towards Flygons left side and attempted to strike him over the head. Unfortunaly, Flygon adapted to Lucarios movement and was able to block and counter with his dragon claw, pushing the opponent away from him.

"If you're just going to stay on the defensive, that's fine by me." Cynthia stated with a smirk as Lucario quickly recover from the last move without fatigue. "Now, hurry and use Ice punch consecutively!"

This time, both of Lucarios hand became envelope in ice and began to swing them constantly onto the dragon claw barrier. Soon afterwards, one of the ice attacks manages to break apart Flygons defensives. With that, the fighting pokemon loaded another ice punch attack, preparing to end the match as quickly as possible.

A gave away a small smile as I put my strategy into play. "Earth Power!" I quickly command. By just simply smacking his foot onto the floor, Flygon summoned a fiery explosion to erupt from the space between him and his opponent. Catching Lucario by surprise, the canine pokemon was force to take the explosion; resulting in pushing him back once again.

It was a simple trick that I use against many heavily offensive pokemons throughout my journey. Keeping on a sturdy defensive until an opening comes up to exploit. Cynthia's Lucario did not look happy when he recovered from the blast thanks to the ground type move being super effective against a steel type pokemon.

"All right Flygon, keep at him with Flamethrower!" Flygon took in a sharp inhale and launch a fire beam towards Lucario.

"Dodge and use Aura Sphere!" Lucario quickly avoid the attack with a series of flips and somersaults. On his final jump, Lucario forged a dark blue sphere of energy and threw it at my Flygon.

"Intercept it with Fire Blast!" I called out. With a fiery attack shot out, a semi large explosion erupted as the fire and aura projectile collided, leaving a clump of smoke to fill the center of the field.

Cynthia took the opportunity of the smoke, "Quickly use Ice punch again!" Emerging out of the smoke in the air was Lucario with an ice fist attack besides him.

"Flygon, use dig!" Before the ice attack could connect, Flygon went and dove deep into the ground.

"Lucario, stand by and get ready to-" Before Cynthia could even finish her sentence; Flygon pulled a fast one and erupted from the ground behind Lucario, surprise the canine pokemon.

"Dragon Tail!" I exclaimed. The tail portion of Flygons body began to glow in a light green energy. Using his powerful wings as a means to rotate, the dragon pokemon began to quickly swing his body to his right, smacking the Lucario with his tail in the process and launching him directly into the side seats on my left.

"Nice job following with the attack Flygon!" I commented with glee, glad that the attack had gone very smoothly. Flygon show out a happy smile, placing a hand behind his neck in a manner as if to say she didn't deserve the praise. But with that, Lucario emerged from the seats with a cocky smile, very eager to continue with the battle. "Your Lucario is quite resilient Cynthia."

"Oh don't worry Kato," Cynthia said in a confident voice, "My pokemons have plenty more tricks up their sleeves. Lucario use Bone Rush!" Lucario clapped both of his paws together and summoned a light blue bone; using said bone as a weapon in the style of a staff.

"Flygon, go on the offensive with Dragon Claw!" Cynthia's pokemon rushed in quickly, preparing to hit Flygon overhead with his blue bone. As that happens, Flygon extended his claws in green energy and they clash furiously. The ground shook as the force of Lucarios bone rush connected with Flygons dragon claw.

They both were evenly matched as they trade blows and deflect attacks with each other. Soon, both of their attacks were lock together, one attempting to overcome the match with strength alone. Once that happen, I saw another opening appear.

"Flygon, use Fire Blast!" At point blank range, Flygon surprised Lucario again by shooting a fiery explosion at him which knocked both combatants back. To my surprise, Lucario was still able to defend against the attack by shielding himself with his arms, but it still looked like he suffered damage.

"All right Lucario," Cynthia said, "It's time to go all out! Sword Dance!" Lucario raise both his arms in a stance and images of swords materialized around him, sharply boosting his overall attack power.

"Flygon, end it quickly and use Fire Blast." Another fiery projectile from Flygon was shot towards Lucario.

"Now, use Extreme Speed!" stated Cynthia. At a rate where only my Floatzel could compete in, Lucarios body became surrounded with a white aura and he quickly dodge the fire blast. Before anyone could even react, Flygon was soon assaulted by a series of high speed dash attacks by Lucario. Each attack threw Flygon off balance, making it difficult to adjust to his movement.

Thanks to the added boast in strength with sword dance, Lucario was able to inflict massive damage while still retaining a speed advantage. Cynthia is quite the scary and powerful opponent when you actually see her go all out. I guess that why she is the champion of Sinnoh after all. I need to act fast before things goes south with my pokemon.

"Flygon, stop his attacks with Earthquake!" I cried out.

"Propel yourself into the air Lucario!" commanded Cynthia quickly. Frustrated with all the attacks, Flygon slammed his fist onto the ground and shook the floor. Even though the attack stopped Lucario's assault, the aura pokemon was still able to quickly jump high into the air to avoid the impact. "Now finish it with Ice Punch!"

Falling down from the air, Lucario charge up another ice punch in his hand and prepared to strike it onto Flygon.

"Get out of there Flygon!" I said with a panicky voice. Flygon attempted to fly backwards with his wings, but he was unfortunately too slow and Lucario was able the punch him over head. Flygon let out a loud grunt of pain as the ice attack took its toll and push him back.

Thankfully, the long training we did on top of Mt. Coronet had made my pokemons more resilient to the cold thanks to the mountains harsh cold weather. But even with that, Flygon was breathing heavily and was slouching, indicating that she was barely hanging on.

"Don't let her recover," said Cynthia urgently, "Keep at her with Force Palm!" Lucario charge at him again with a palm covered with powerful energy. Still being too tired to move, Flygon was force to take the force palm directly, knocking the green dragon across the field once more.

With a thud, Flygon landed onto the ground, fainted from all the fighting. "The challenge's Flygon is unable to battle," announce the referee, "Lucario is the winner!"

Lucario jumped back to his master, where Cynthia congratulate him in his performance.

I let out another deep breath in anxiety as the intense battle came to a close. I walk up towards my pokemon and started to pat her neck, but she still looked at the other direction. "You did amazing Flygon." I comfort despite her disappointing face. "Seriously, you stood up and held your own against one of the most powerful pokemon in the region. You should be proud of yourself for getting this far."

Flygon look toward with a sad expression, but nod as she understands my comfort. I could tell she wasn't in the mood to talk so I let her be.

"Here, take a break from the battle for a while. Don't worry, we having lost yet." I said with a gentle smile. I brought Flygon back into his ball and saw that Cynthia had done the same with her Lucario.

"So what's next?" She asked after she returns her pokemon, "Which pokemon are you going to pull out this time?"

I brought out my fourth poke ball from my bag, "Get ready and give it your all," I whisper to it. "Go, Volcarona!" I sent out Volcarona, a large white and red moth pokemon with six red wings on his back to keep him afloat. A little black head with blue eyes appear out of the massive clump of white fur at his upper body. Verona was a rare type of being fire and bug, making him an extraordinarily unique pokemon. He was known to be a very powerful and interesting pokemon as his kind were never native to Sinnoh. But thanks to a certain friend, I was lucky enough to get him as an egg during my adventure.

 _"Welcome again young master."_ Volcarona said with a deep and raspy voice.

 _"All right Volcarona, are you ready for whats to come?"_

 _"I am at your side till the very end. Let us see what the champion of Sinnoh can do against me."_

"An interesting choice." Cynthia said with an unimpressed tone but still had a smile to it. "But I'll do you one better. Come, Milotic!" Cynthia released out a beautiful and elegant pokemon out with a serpent like appearance. Her upper body was like the color of the sand and a tail with the design of the sea. A pink row of hair covered the back of her neck.

Milotic was another well-known pokemon within Cynthia's party and one of her most used pokemon in battle. And what made it worse was that Milotic was a water type; meaning my Volcarona is going to have a tough time at this battle. Still, a tough battle may be nerve-racking at its fullest, but it also can be the most exciting battles too.

"Let the next battle commence."

* * *

 **A/N: I don't know if this is a common thing or not, but I feel like it's a lot harder to write action scenes oppose to regular story scenes in general, so maybe that's why this chapter took so long to write. Anyhow, if you're reading this at the end then I am so glad and thankful you took the time to read my story. So Thanks!**

 **For the question of the chapter, let's go with something non pokemon related this time like "What's your favorite show/anime/cartoon to watch?" I don't necessary have a favorite but I do love the show _Avatar the Last Airbender._ Just the overall world itself of it feels amazing the watch along with the awesome characters.**

 **Next chapter will again feature more action in it but I can guess you can tell why. My main purpose of writing these battles were to introduce all of the pokemons that Kato has. Since each of his pokemons could communicate with him, I had a lot of fun making all their personality and how they work and react to Kato.**

 **Okay well I hope you liked this story after reading it. Please review it could help me a lot with my production time and thanks for everything.**

 **Take Care :)**

 _ **signed- The Grand Enchanter**_


	4. Chapter 3: End game

**Working on this project can be tiresome, but I'm glad do say this chapter is finally done!**

 **Who will win the battle between Cynthia and Kato? Only one way to find out.**

 **So, again thank you for continuing to read my poor story and I hope you keep on reading**

 **Disclaimer: I only own the story, I don't own anything else pokemon related.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3: End Game**_

Repeated clashes of water and fire echoed throughout the field as the battle between my Volcarona and Cynthia's Milotic drag on. Despite the obvious type advantage that Milotic has, both sides seemed evenly match as one attempt to overpower the other. Both combatants traded blows while pockets of heat and mist form when each attack collide.

"Flamethrower!"

"Hydro Pump!" Another explosion of fog filled the area, one too thick to see through. I plan to use that to my advantage.

"Volcarona, Acrobatics!" Using the mist as a stealth tactic, the moth pokemon flew in with a light blue aura.

"Attack him Milotic with Aqua Tail!" Cynthia commanded, hidden within the mist. Milotic began charging an aqua tail as she waited. The moment the fog shifted, Milotic swung her tail and my moth pokemon grunted in pain as he was knocked back.

"Don't think I'll fall for that trick so easily!" commented Cynthia as the fog quickly clears, "We're just getting started! Milotic, use Surf!" Letting out a loud roar towards the sky, Milotic summon a huge wave of water.

"Over Heat!" I exclaimed, putting much effort. Volcarona let out his own screech as he sent out a wave of heat, evaporating the water as it came close.\

"Now Volcarona, use Hurricane!" Cynthia step back in surprise as the fog was quickly lifted with a large tornado appearing in the middle of the battlefield, pulling Milotic in and flying her up towards the sky.

"Now combine it with Fire Spin!" I boomed out load. As Volcarona beat his wings back and forth, the regular tornado soon became a gigantic fiery one, inflicting more damage onto the water pokemon which cause her to cry out in pain. Cynthia's gaze panic for a moment at the combine move.

"Milotic! Use Hydro Pump!" Cynthia countered with a small frustration in her voice. Struggling to break free, Milotic had little choice and launch out a powerful beam of water out of her mouth and aimed it at Volcarona. The beam of water knocked Volcarona back and made him let go of his attack, letting Milotic fall with a loud slame onto the battle floor.

Looking at the heavy breathing of my pokemon, I knew that Volcarona won't last long if I keep this up. I'll have to push my plan into play sooner than I hope.

"Alright Volcarona, keep it up just a bit longer and use Sunny Day!" The fatigue Volcarona let out another screech and the sun began to shine strongly through the stained windows on the ceiling.

"Milotic, can you keep going?" Cynthia asked with concern and Milotic nodded back in assurance. "Alright then, use Hydro Pump again!"

"Volcarona, fly up and use string shot." I called out. The fire bug pokemon quickly shot up into the air and avoided the hydro pump. Then a web of string shot out of Volcarona's mouth and covered Milotic in it, reducing her movement.

"Now use U-turn!" In quick succession, Volcarona dash downwards in a spinning movement and struck Milotic. After the attack, Volcarona was then sent back into his poke ball and I drew another one out.

"It's your turn Torterra!" I released my strongest pokemon out into the battle field, his face ready in anticipation. You got to love U-turn, being able to switch pokemon mid battle while also doing damage can bring in a huge advantage. Especially with the situation Milotic is in right now.

Realizing what my plan is, Cynthia quickly took on a panic expression and urge Milotic to get out of the string shot web. "Milotic, use Ice Beam!"

"Not this time!" I exclaimed, "Finish it Torterra with Solar Beam!" Using sunny day to charge up, a white aura cover his tree portion of the body. Then Torterra launch out a powerful white blast of energy from his mouth. At the same time, Milotic had launched an icy beam attack and the two moves collide.

The clash shook the area and it was a stalemate, but Torterra's solar beam quickly tore through Milotic's attack. Cynthia's pokemon was force to look as the giant white beam came crashing down on her. After a brief explosion, Milotic laid fainted in defeat.

The referee rush up into the middle of the battle field to get a closer look at the water type pokemon. "Milotic is unable the battle," he declared, "Torterra is the winner!"

Cynthia took out a ball and return Milotic back.

"I must admit Kato," She said folding her arms and smiling. "That was impressive."

"Thanks Cynthia, but this challenge is still not over yet." I said eagerly. "Let's keep on going."

"My my Kato, you seem to be a bit impatient with this battle. Do you not like the company that I bring?" Cynthia asked with a tone of hurt in her voice.

"What? N-no I just," I stuttered a bit in embarrassment, looking down and rubbing the back of my head. "I didn't mean to sound like that..."

To my surprise, Cynthia just responded with a hearty chuckle. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing you a bit that's all," She said this laughing with one hand on her hip. "I guess some things still stay the same no matter how old you get.

"Yea, uh Cynthia-"

"You still have that hint of being thoughtless when you become embarrass about something." She continued "Oh remember when you were having so much trouble talking to those girls back at Eterna City! Now that was adorable!"

"Yea, well, I prefer not to remember the past too much." I complain with a bit of embarrassment.

"Sorry, sorry; but hey, if you hadn't done that you wouldn't have met me remember?" mention Cynthia sympathetically.

I look back up in nostalgic. It was a weird but good memory of meeting Cynthia back in Eterna City. While the champion was there doing research in a library, I was there training for a gym battle. We eventually cross path and I guess Cynthia saw something in me to make me her friend. Or it was probably pity after I met two trainer girls and she saw that I kind of made a fool of myself.

"Sorry about rushing things. I just want to get this anxiety out of my system already." I Implied.

"Well then, I guess it's time for my next partner to come out." She took out another ball from underneath her black coat and threw it. Out from the ball came the famous blue and black hound pokemon, Lucario. Despite his early fight, his posterior looked ready for the next fight, but I knew deep down he's still worn out.

"All right Torterra. You ready for this?!" I called out enthusiastic. Torterra glance in my direction and responded with a confident nod before looking onward against his opponent. Cynthia's may have a strategy somewhere that I don't know about so I'll have to finish this quickly.

The referee came up again before saying, "Let the round between Lucario and Torterra commence!"

"Torterra! Take him out quick with Giga Impact!" Torterra charged forward at high speed of purple and white aura towards his opponent.

"Lucario, stand your ground with Force Palm!" commanded Cynthia. Focusing white energy into his hand, Lucario put both of his palms forward and took on the impact of Torterra head on. The impact pushed him farther back, but Lucario kept his stance and withstood it.

"Strike back Lucario with Close Combat!" Stepping forward, Lucario first began with an upward kick that knocked Torterra's jaw up following up with a series of punches and kicks, but Torterra stood his ground with annoyance.

"Torterra, grab him with Crunch." I called out. Torterra enveloped his jaws in dark energy and began to bite at Lucario furiously. However, the nimble fighting type pokemon kept on dodging each attack while simultaneously continuing his close combat. A routine of dodging and countering each attack.

"Lucario, get on top of Torterra's back!" Jumping upward to avoid another bite from Torterra, Lucario landed on top of the shell pokemon and held on as the grass starter shook side to side in an attempt to get him off. "Now finish it with Ice Punch!"

"Stop it with Frenzy Plant!" I said quickly panicking on the situation. Torterra made a short stomp on the ground and as Lucario's icy fist went flying, it was unfortunately (and thankfully) stopped by an erupted large vine quickly grabbing his arm. Soon more vines came out of the ground and threw Lucario off Torterra's shell.

"Now Torterra, finish it with Earthquake!" With one last and powerful stop on the ground, Torterra shook the battlefield and the ground beneath Lucario exploded. As the ground settle Cynthia's pokemon was fainted.

"Lucario is unable to battle, Torterra wins the match!"

"It was a close battle there," Cynthia admitted, "But I already knew I was going to lose that either way."

"Every battle comes a strategy and every strategy comes from a battle." I commented in acknowledgment.

"Oh good, so you do remember that." said Cynthia impressed.

"I learn from the best."

Cynthia smiles at me and brought out another poke ball. "It's about time we get this battle wrapped up soon. Let us dance Togekiss!" Released from her pokeball came a pure white bird like creature with triangle specks of red and blue feathers on its chest and head. Togekiss flew through the air as a flying a fairy type.

I withdrew Torterra.

"All right, come on out Mawile!" I sent out my steel and fairy type pokemon mawile. She was an innocent looking small, yellow and black creature with a gigantic steel jaw on the back of her head. She held a hand to her mouth with a yawn and looked behind me with a sleepy gaze. I nod to her and I connect our minds to communicate.

 _"You okay Mawile?"_ I asked.

 _"I'm just a little nervous, that's all. And a little bit sleepy. I never thought I would come face to face with the real life champion."_ She said in a timid voice.

 _"Hey, don't be scared after all we've been through. Just trust in me, I've got your back."_

 _"Okay, I trust you Kato."_

"Its been a while since I've seen your Mawile in battle." Cynthia commented as I disable our connection, "I remember that she hasn't been the greatest help to your team when you were still battling the gym leaders."

"I know my Mawile hasn't been very good at battling in those days, but I have all of my pokemons for a reason, regardless of how strong they are when I first met them. Besides, Mawile has grown very much since those days." I look to Mawile who gave me a thankful smile.

"It seems to be a pattern." Cynthia looked towards the referee and motion him to come forward.

"Let the next battle begin!" He said.

"Mawile, use Iron Head!" I exclaimed as soon as the referee finished. Mawile took off charging forward towards Togekiss, her body consume in a silver aura.

Cynthia lifted her hand in elegance as she commands, "Dodge Togekiss!"In response, Togekiss flew upward and Mawile went past her.

I saw an opening in her dodge and I took it, "Go back and use Thunder Fang!" Mawile manage to stop her charge and leap back, her giant steel jaw generating for an electricity attack. But as soon as the thunder fang came close, Togekiss flew out of the way with extreme agility.

Looking at how Togekiss moved, I could tell its style was based on one of those hit and run type pokemon. If I want Mawile to hit it, I either need to slow its movement or catch it off guard.

"Your Mawile has grown a lot, I can even feel the power behind each strikes." commented Cynthia, "But even if you have the type advantage, it doesn't mean you have won. Togekiss, use Sunny Day." The window on the ceiling shine brightly again as the sunlight came down. "Now use Flamethrower!"

"Dodge it!" Mawile duck and rolled to her right as the enhance flame beam came. "Now use Stone Edge!"

"Avoid them all Togekiss then use Aerial Ace." The white fairy type flew swiftly around the battlefield as large stone pillars erupted from the ground and her front body became envelope in white.

"Mawile, use Iron Defense!" Mawiles whole body began to glow silver, strengthening her defense. But Togekiss's power overcame and threw Mawile backwards.

"Now use Dazzling Gleam!" commanded Cynthia. Togekiss emitted a blinding light from her body and caught Mawile in surprise. Then I saw an opening and I took it,

"Don't let her recover Mawile! Use Flash Cannon!" From the giant jaw part of her body, Mawile shot out a beam of silver towards her opponent, but Togekiss was able to escape its range as it came. I bit my lip in frustration, but then an idea suddenly came to me. "Now cover the field with Stone Edge!"

Togekiss maneuver swiftly around the area as stone pillars erupted from the ground. I called out to my pokemon, "Jump across the pillars to get in close and use Thunder Fang!"

"Stop her Togekiss with Fire Blast!" Mawile's steel jaw became consume with electricity as she jump from pillar to pillar towards Togekiss, who in response shot out a fire blast back. Since Mawile was in mid air when the fire attack was shot out, she had no way of dodging it and was soon knocked to the ground from the blast, slowly getting back up in a tired expression.

"Mawile, you okay?" I asked. Even though our minds weren't connect, I could tell she wanted to keep on going from her expression. "Just hold on a little more, I'm probably going to do something risky okay?"

Mawile's lack of concern from that statement shows how much she trust me, so I held my head strong. "Alright, get into Togekiss's blind spot behind those pillars." With stone edge still active, Mawile ran around the base to hide from Togekiss's view.

"Using stone edge as a cover against my attacks huh," Cynthia said figuring out a part of my strategy, "But that won't work; Togekiss use Fire Blast consecutively!" Fire blast was shot out of Togekiss's mouth, destroying all of the stone pillars that Mawile ran under. Once Mawile was behind the last pillar, Cynthia went for the victory. "Finish it Togekiss with Flamethrower!"

I took a swallow, hoping this would work. "Now Mawile, come right at her with Iron Head!" Before the beam of fire collide, the stone pillar crumbled as Mawile shot through it with her silver aura towards the flamethrower. But to Togekiss surprise, Mawile didn't stop when she enter the flame beam. With Iron Head still active, my steel type pokemon travel straight through the fire and dealt a direct hit onto Togekiss.

"What?!" Cynthia said as her pokemon grunt in pain from the super effective move.

"Thunder Fang!" I shouted. In mid air, my steel type pokemon swung her giant electric jaw and caught the daze Togekiss. "Flash Cannon!" The inside of Mawile's giant jaw began to glow white. Before anybody had time to react, a silver beam of energy was shot out of Mawile's mouth in an explosive fashion and the battle ended with the Togekiss falling onto the ground in defeat.

"Togekiss is unable to battle!" The referee announce. "The victory of this match goes to Mawile!" Mawile stepped back to her spot, panting in exhaustion but eventually gave a wide grin.

"Yea!" I cheered to my pokemon. Cynthia had no words to say at all, but she didn't looked shock nor amazed, more like a face that was in serious thought.

"What's the matter?" I asked with a wide grin. "You want me to tell you how that little event happen?"

Cynthia ponder the subject for a second before answering. "No need, I already figure it out. When Mawile was behind the stone pillar, you had her carry one of those rock in secret and then used said rock as a shield when she went into the flamethower with iron head. Then once Mawile got close, she combine her attack by smashing the rock right into Togekiss along with iron head to add more damage. Am I wrong?"

My grin faded quickly from Cynthia's monologue, and this time it was my turn to be amaze. "Wow, I-I mean, no you're not wrong. I didn't expect you to figure that one out so quickly."

"Well I have been doing this for quite some time now, so don't underestimate me." she said smiling while bringing Togekiss back into her poke ball and pulling out another one from her coat.

"You don't seem worried or upset." I commented, making Cynthia look back up. "You only have one pokemon left while I have five. I would have image that you would at least look nervous."

"That may be the case, but you need to keep in mind that a good majority of your pokemon are all worn out and weak from fighting. If my last pokemon lands a solid strike on each of them, then the match is mine. Victory isn't gone from me yet Kato."

I smiled at her answer. If there's one thing I've learned from her, it's that she doesn't give up so easily. Although, neither will I.

"I think it's about time this battle nears its end." Cynthia said as she prepared the poke ball in her hand. "Garchomp, battle dance!" Cynthia release pokemon, a dragon and shark like creature with three fins on its arms and back stood on her two legs. Its overall body was a dark blue color except for the red chest and the yellow forehead and lower chest area. The intimidating pokemon let our a loud roar to announce its presences, shaking the arena in the process.

I entered Esprit and connect Mawile's mind. _"How you holding up Mawile?"_ I can still hear her tired breath as she spoke.

 _"I-I'm fine, don't worry about me. I now I'm not as strong as the others, but I'll give it my all!"_

 _"All right then, but don't push yourself too hard."_ Mawile took her stance in preparation.

The referee came back up and announce the battle again. "Let the next battle begin!"

The first thing I needed to do was take advantage of Mawile's fairy type to Garchomp's dragon. "Mawile! Take him out quick with Play Rough!" A pink aura surronded the steel and fairy pokemon. Garchomp stood ready as my pokemon charge forward for an attack.

"Dig Garchomp." said Cynthia calmly. Swiftly, Garchomp dive straight towards the ground, making Mawile's attack miss. Mawile quickly stop her charge attack, only to be caught off guard when Garchomp break out of the ground in front of her. "Now use Poison Jab!"

"Iron Defense" I said quickly. My pokemon held up her hands in defense and glowed with silver, raising her defense. Garchomp attack with full force and knocked back Mawile across the field. Fortunately, she still manage to stay up, but not for long.

Before I had time to plan, Cynthia took the opportunity to continue her assault. "Finish it Garchomp with Fire Blast!"

I had no time to think. "Counter it with Fairy Wind!" Fire blasted from Garchomp's mouth while Mawile swung her massive jaw, launching a gust if wind with sparkles in it. The two attacks collided, but the fire blast went right through the wind and directly into Mawile.

Following that was a huge explosion and Mawile laid fainted in defeat. "Mawile has been defeated." the referee declared, "The round goes to Cynthia."

I rush onto the arena to my pokemon. Kneeling by the side of Mawile, I look to her with a calm and gentle expression as her eyes look back with a sadden one.

"You all right?" I asked with concern. She didn't say anything when I connect our minds, but she reassure me with a small but noticeable nod. It was obvious that she was hurting emotionally inside. Throughout my journey, she kept admitting that she was the weakest pokemon compare to her companions and she had a difficult time keeping up. She always thought of herself as a burden to the team, so she hated and blamed herself whenever lose a match.

I pulled her in for a hug. _It's all right,_ I said to her. _Don't go blaming yourself. Come on! It took the great and powerful Garchomp of Cynthia to bring you down._ _So be proud of yourself, and make this lost another reason for you the get stronger._

It wasn't much, but eventually Mawile look to me we a sad looking smile. _All right._ She transmitted quietly.

I sent her back into her ball and stood back up, where Cynthia greeted me from her side of the field. "I told you your pokemon were too tired to fight again. If you want to beat me, you'll have to send out your strongest pokemon.

I look to her with serious, but quickly took on a smirk and said, "All right then, you want my Torterra so badly, I'll show you him." While heading back to my original spot I pulled out Torterra's ball. I knew she was baiting me to do this but in reality I had no choice. "Torterra, our hearts are one!"

I notice a small peak of a smile from Cynthia's face when I sent out my stater pokemon. From that little clue, I could tell she was waiting for this, I have to keep my guard up. Torterra let out a loud roar as he was released into battle. After seeing Garchomp as his opponent, he look back at me with a nod, showing he understood the situation.

Cynthia expression turned soft for a moment. "It really been a long time since we've first met, hasn't it?" I gave her a questionable look, wondering what she was going on about..

"Yeah, it has." I agreed

"Back then, you were such a frail child. Always stuttering around people and always taking your journey so seriously. Thinking back, it was actually kind of cute."

"Uh," I blushed a little and looked away.

"But look at you now," She continued. "Like a pokemon, you didn't just change, you've evolved. Becoming something greater while retaining a part of your old self that made you special in the first place. It almost makes me jealous that I couldn't do the same." She lowered her voice at that last part but I still picked it up. Was there something I'd miss?

I shrugged it off and looked back at her with resolve, "Cynthia, I've given up my family's respect and devoted a third of my life to be where I am right now. I've went through so much, and everything, all of my life right now, is dependent on this one battle." I clench my fist in reassurance. "I'm putting all I've got into this, so I want you to come at me with everything you've got!"

Cynthia gave me a sly grin, "THAT's the spirit! Now show me how you fare against the strongest trainer in Sinnoh!"

The referee came up once more. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Torterra use Giga Impact!"

"Return with Dragon Rush!"

A clash of power shook the battle field as both pokemons collided in a blaze of aura.

Cynthia acted first, "Fire Fang Garchomp!"

"Use Crunch Torterra!" I said in response. The two drop out of their attacks. Elemental fire and darkness erupted from the named pokemon's mouth and began snapping at each other furiously.

Torterra's body clashed into Garchomp, both wrestling and thrashing at one another in an onslaught. This continue until Garchomp successfully landed a flaming bite onto his opponent's shoulder.

Torterra shriek in pain and Garchomp followed up by shoving my pokemon away from him.

"Torterra, you all right?" I asked as he sled towards me. He gave me a slight nod and a grunt without turning away from his foe.

"Don't leave him any room to recover," Cynthia ordered, "Flamethrower!" Garchomp's mouth erupted with flames again and shot out a powerful beam of fire.

"Intercept with Stone Edge!" Torterra stomped the ground and a stream glowing stone pillars rises in front of him, blocking the fire and speeds towards his opponent.

"Dragon claw." Garchomp slash the oncoming stone away and leap at my pokemon overhead.

A bit my lip in a frustration, "Leaf Storm!"

The impact blast a gust of wind and dirt all around us. When everything clear, all was silent. Cynthia at this time had no expression on her face. No sense of her usual outgoing attitude. Instead, she just keep on looking at me.

Before I could open my mouth, she quickly cut me off. "What are you doing Kato?" she said. Soon after, she held up her hand and snapped her fingers, resulting in a Garchomp suddenly bursting out of the vines and landing safely to her side.

"W-What to do you mean?" I said taking aback by this.

"I've notice a weird change in your fighting." She responded. "Before, all of your previous pokemons have been fighting their hardest with you. You've displayed amazing tactics before hand. But the moment I brought out Garchomp, something felt strange."

She paused a moment to fold her arms. "Do you remember the three essential traits as a trainer?"

"What? O-of course, but-" But she immediately cuts me off.

"The power of ones pokemon, the mind of the trainer, and the hearts of both combine," she stated counting on her fingers. "These three traits are what defines a great trainer, as well as the aspect of a battle. However, you seem to be missing one of these. Or rather, you haven't been using these to your fullest."

I stood back a bit, releasing what she means. "So let me rephrase my question," she said in a pure serious tone. "Why are you holding back on me?"

I remained silent, thinking on what I was about to say. "What makes you think that?"

"I've seen what you could do during your adventure Kato." Cynthia stated, "I witness all of the amazing things you've done with your mind alone. Yet, now your doing simple things instead of expanding them."

I let out a sigh. I never really told her about my Esprit, but despite everything she still is trying to force me to use it. I've never really liked using my power because it felt wrong somehow. Like I'm using strength that isn't my own.

Telling her my real reason to why I won't use it would take too long and would ruin the battle, so I settled with the obvious answer.

"You'll know everything once this battle is over." I said. Despite how vague my response was, Cynthia just gave me a small smile as well as another sigh.

"In that case, why don't we just end everything right here with a final attack?" She motion to her Garchomp, who in return took on a threatening stance.

"As you wish." I said with a smirk. Torterra took on his own stance to compensate Garchomp.

For a moment, a second of silence tension pass. Then it all happened so fast.

"Garchomp! Use Draco Meter!" In a flash, Garchomp shout out a blast of energy into the air. The energy separates and a hail of meteors began to fall out of the sky.

"All right Torterra, give it everything you've got! Frenzy Plant!" Vines erupted on Torterra's command and they collided with the meteors.

As this was happening, Garchomp was already running towards Torterra.

"Use Fire Fang!" Cynthia exclaimed. Mouth bursting with flames, Garchomp launches herself forward in flight.

"Torterra watch out!" Noticing his opponent, Torterra summon two of the vines to stop her, but Garchomp's superior agility allowed her to evade it with ease and it wasn't long till the two pokemon came face to face.

In the end, I knew what was happening, yet the only thing I did there, was smile.

Garchomp struck Torterra with such force, a small explosion soon follow afterwards. A moment of silence past as the dust settles in.

"Torterra is unable to battle!" The referee announce revealing my fainted Torterra. "Cynthia is the winner of this match!"

When the ref finish speaking, both Cynthia and I started walking onto the ring until we stood a few feet apart. I could see a faint smile on her face so I return the expression.

The referee looked at both of us in confusion."Uh," he began.

"You don't have to continue anymore," Cynthia said cutting him off while turning to the ref. "The match has already been decided.

"Yep," I agreed, "I forfeit."

Despite that, the referee looked even more confuse.

A sigh from Cynthia held my attention, "You never had any intentions to become champion, didn't you" she said.

I smiled to reassure myself. "I knew you'd figure it out during our battle." And I truly believed that. I've seen first hand how scary Cynthia's intelligence can be, and I trust that she knew me well enough that I would be holding back.

"What I want to know is why?" Cynthia asked, "Explain it to me.

I looked to my side where Torterra was slowly getting up. "I've always wanted to beat the Sinnoh league and become champion, don't get me wrong. That's been my entire goal since the beginning." I turn back to Cynthia, "But, I still have things I want to do and becoming champion won't allow me to do that yet."

"I know that feeling." Cynthia mumble looking a bit down.

"I'm sorry Cynthia," I said truly feeling bad. "But I can't accept myself as champion yet. There still a group of people that I have to make peace with after all these years."

"So you challenge beforehand to get knowledge of what my strategies." Cynthia looked back at me and nods, "I understand, but you still want to obtain the title of champion?"

"Yes, but after I take care of whats going on first. Besides," I put on a confidant smirk and folded my arms, "I wasn't the only one holding back in this battle."

At that, Cynthia looked startled all of a sudden, a rare sight for her. "W-what do you mean?"

"I know your getting tired as champion Cynthia. You've been holding this title for so long, yet you keep hanging on to it to find somebody worthy to take over your place. Subconsciously, you've been holding back in hopes that I or somebody else would remove this burden from you. Even if you never mentioned it before, I can tell from all the battles I've seen you fight."

At this point, Torterra finally got up and walked to my side. I place a hand on his head and he smile.

"I don't want to win this way." I continue, "and I'm sure you don't want to either." For the first time in this entire match, Cynthia was speechless. I didn't give her room to talk either.

I stood back and gave a quick bow, "Thank you, Cynthia, for bearing with my selfish request. But I want you to know that next time I will win." With that I turned to walk away towards the exit, my Torterra limping besides me.

"Oh!" I jump suddenly remembering something. I look back at Cynthia, "Next time, I'm looking forward to seeing what your Mega Garchomp can do." And with that, I continued forward and I activated Esprit.

 _Are you sure your going to be okay with this?_ Torterra message to me once I made the connection.

"Don't worry buddy, this isn't the end."

In response, Torterra gave a little grunt along with a smirk. _Regardless, the next time we fight that pokemon again, we will win. I'm with you no matter what partner._

Garchomp, who had remained at Cynthia side all this time, nudge her trainer as she remain still. The last thing Cynthia could do was give a small smile.

"That kid is really something."

* * *

 **A/N: Finally! You don't know how long this took me to make. I really need to get better at writing action scenes.**

 **Hopefully now that this long term battle is done, chapters will be easier to write. Again, writing action scenes are really hard and I find it more enjoyable to write other things.**

 **Anyway, I'll keep this short since I'm tired. Thank you so much for reading my story.**

 **Question of the day/chapter, if you were to own a gym, what would be your theme, type, and setting? Mine would be a post apocalyptic city theme grass type gym in an abandon city. Grass covering the buildings, giving a sense of mystery, and perhaps a maze to confuse players. I dunno, I think that would be a good idea.**

 **Again, thank you for bearing with me and I hope you'll continue on, if I keep writing that is.**

 ** _Signed- The Grand Enchanter_ **


	5. Chapter 4 Reunion

**A/N: This is a short chapter this time around. I'm thinking of doing this more often to make my production faster, but we'll see in the future.**

 **Anyways, welcome again to chapter 4 of my first ever terrible written story. I truly enjoy writing these things despite my laziness, so I'll keep trying to force myself to finish this story/**

 **I'll keep the introduction brief. So again, thank you so much for even reading this far. I hope I can continue to write more again.**

 **Disclamier: I don't own the world of pokemon nor the actual pokemons. This is a story of original characters in the fictional world of pokemon. Have a nice day.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4: Reunion**_

"8:30 am, right on schedule." I said to myself as I rode on top of Flygon. I turn my attention to the rising sun as the light began to cover the land of Twinleaf Town. "It's been a while since I've seen this place. Not much has really changed since the last time I was here. Though, I don't think I ever saw it from this view before." I smile at the thought of it, looking down from the sky as the wind pushes back against my hair.

A grumbling sound came and I could feel a small nudge from Flygon when it happen. "I know Flygon," I said reading her thoughts, "don't worry; I'll get your breakfast ready once we're settle in."

" _WHAT ABOUT ME?"_ shouted a annoying voice that rang inside my head, making me jump.

"Rotom! How many times do I have to tell you to stop yelling at me when you're in your pokeball! I can't tell when you're going to talk."

" _Heh, you know you love it when I do this Boss."_ Rotom replied.

" _Shut it, your idiotic voice has ruin my slumber."_

" _Nobody asked you Vol!"_

I couldn't help but chuckle a little as the rest of my pokemon began to wake within their capsule.

" _Guys, can you not do this when it's still morning?"_ complained a sleepy Mawile.

" _Rotom started it."_

" _I DID NOT talk first I only shouted first."_

" _Why on earth does Esprit still work when we're still inside our pokeballs?"_ complained Floatzel. " _I don't want to listen to these amateurs all day."_

 _"Says the one who's a novice at controlling his ego."_ Replied Mawile.

 _"Hey! Why don't you get out of that pokeball and say that to my face!_

"Quite down guys," I said calmingly, "We're already here so I'll turn off Esprit okay?" They all sigh in relief.

We flew down quickly towards the gate of the village. After we landed, I returned Flygon back into her ball and began walking around the town. There were changes in the village, but nothing too major to talk about showed up. Besides some newly built houses and a couple of trees, the village hardly looked any different. As I walk down the road, I could see some familiar faces walking out of their houses. One of the neighbors that I recognize was Brian's dad Mr. Tristan, who looked at me with a mix of curiosity and confusion as I walk up to the his front porch.

"Hello there," he greeted not recognizing me. His voice was more rough and he seemed to be a little thinner than he was the last I saw him, but he was still an imposing man. "I haven't seen your face around here before. You a visitor or you got a family moving here?"

"Well," I said pretending I didn't know him, "I guess you can say I'm a visitor. I'm mainly here for a short reunion with a family that I know."

"Oh, which family are you seeing? Is it the Keys or the Hayes family?

"Don't worry, you'll find out eventually." Brian's dad gave me a slight frown at my answer, but then dismiss it soon after.

"Ok then, you need any directions?" He asked.

"No thanks, I kind of know my way around this place."

"All right well have a nice day." He said as I walk away from his house.

"Bye! and say hello to Brian for me again Mr. Tristian!" I said waving back at him. wave back in obliviousness until it took him a good ten seconds for him to come to the realization.

"Wait, again?" He said before it dawned on him. After that, he rush back inside his house and went for the stairs shouting, "Brian! Wake up, I think he's here!"

Brian lifted his body from his bed in a daze as he heard his father shouting. "What?!." He shouted back sleepily and slightly annoyed. His father finally barged into Brian's room with a wide grin on his face.

"Kato's here!" he said eagerly, "Hurry up and get your clothes on, I don't want to miss Stout's reaction when he sees this!"

"Wait, he's here already?" Brian soon stumbled out of his bed in surprise and reached for his pokètech. "Hold up I need to tell the others about this."

* * *

"It sure has been a long time since I've seen this place." I said to myself as I stood in front of my old house. "I'm glad this house is still here. Let's just hope that everyone else is still in it."

 _"Stop being so negative partner."_ Torterra transmitted from within his pokeball. _"I'm sure your parents are still in one piece after all of this."_

 _"I don't know."_ Joined Floatzel. _"Your dad was still pretty piss the last time we saw him._

 _"Floatzel, that was over three years ago!"_

 _"What's your point?"_

 _"You're not helping."_ came Flygon.

"Technically, it was actually three years, four months and twenty-"

 _"Nobody cares!"_ Shouted everybody. I smiled from that and took a deep breath again.

 _"Don't worry Kato,"_ said Mawile, _"if anything happens, we're here for you."_

 _"Yeah, cheer up partner! After everything we've been through this shouldn't seem so bad."_

 _"Young Lord, always remember that no matter what happens, we will be with you."_

 _"Exactly, so gather your courage and face this!"_

 _"We'll be right behind you boss, so don't worry about us."_

"Thanks guys."

I gathered up all of my courage and walked up the porch with my head hung high but with a feeling of terror deep in my body. Ever since I left this place I had always thought of what I should say when I eventually get back. Now, nothing came into mind. I froze at the door and took a deep breath.

I knocked on door softly, wondering if my parents were awake. There was no answer so I knocked again but louder. Still no answer, and a sudden thought came into mind that scared me. What if they left this place and moved somewhere else? What if they left the region and abandon me? What if they divorced and-? No, I shouldn't think this way. I shook away the thoughts and knocked again for the third time and waited. Yet the door did not open. I gave out a sad sigh when it was clear that no one would answer and started walking out of the porch. Until a door suddenly swung open and I froze in my tracks.

"Kato?" came the unsettling voice of my mother. I slowly turn around and our eyes met. Other than looking older, not much has changed about her expect for her messy black hair. My body was shaking at the sight of her and my tongue felt dry. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. But I found that I didn't need to as her eyes became filled with water and she rush towards me.

"You're finally home!" she cried out loud, squashing me with her hug. I recover from my brief state of shock and return the hug with a smile. After all these years my height has grown far beyond my mothers, but she didn't seem to care.

"Nice to see you again mom. I hope it wasn't too hard being here without me." I said with a shaky voice.

"So you finally decided to come back after all these years." Came a voice that I was far too familiar with. I look up from my mother and saw my dad leaning against the door. He had new square glasses this time and he seem somewhat leaner than the last time we met. "To be honest, I was beginning to think that you would never come back."

"Dad," I said looking down in shame with a bit of tears, "I know it's been a while, but I'm really am sorr-" I wasn't able to get the words out when my dad came at me with hug of his own.

"You, don't have to say anything." He reassured, "If anyone has to apologize then it's me." My dad then took a step back with a serious expression. Throughout my life, he never seemed like a tough guy. He was more of a quite man that didn't speak his mind much. Yet now he seems so much different.

"Kato, in the days that you were still here I was the one being selfish. I never wanted you to go on this journey in the first place. And after that incident with the Staraptors, that's when the it came to me that maybe you were just not made for this. I never had the chance to go on an adventure, and I realize that seeing you do it made me a bit jealous of you."

I look at him with surprise. He was way better at this apology talk than I am.

"When you left that day, I was angry for a real long time." He said this with a hint of laughter in his voice, as if he was embarrassed. "It took me more than a year to get over it."

"Correction," said my mother joining in from the hug. "It took me more than a year to get him over it."

"Yeah," my father admit, "I did had some help. But in the end I was wrong. Look at you now! You're almost as tall as I am."

"Five years will do that to you." My mother said.

"Well," I said soon after, "It wasn't really five years; it was more four years, nine months, three weeks, uh, and two days ago that I left."

"You're fifteen aren't you?" my dad asked.

"Well, yeah but-"

"Then it was five years, don't argue."

I let out a soft laugh, "Yes sir."

"Well, just to let you know Kato," My mother said walking back and standing next to dad. "You aren't the only one that was busy these past years."

"What do you mean?" I asked confuse but curious. Before she could answer, a running noise came from behind me and our attention turn towards the new person that I recognize as Sophie. She came towards us out of breath with her hands on her knees.

"Dangit," she said out loud, gasping for breath "Did I miss it?"

"Miss what?" I asked.

"Oh don't you worry," My dad said ignoring me, "You haven't missed everything yet."

"What are you talking about?"

He turned to my mother. "Is she still asleep?"

"Let me go see." I watch my mother walk back into the house again and went upstairs.

"Hold on, what's going on-"

"YOU!" Roared a voice interrupting me. I turn for a look, only to feel the force of a fist colliding with my face while simultaneously hearing a man yelling at the top of his lungs om the way.

"So you finally decided to come home, idiot!" I looked up in shock as Brian stood before me with a fierce expression. "You really think that you can just walk back in here and expect-"

"Empolion use Hydro Pump." Sophie said plainly releasing her pokemon.

"WAIT WAIT DON'T-" Brian yelled out before being sent flying out of the porch in a stream of water, screaming on the way.

"Brian! How many times do I have to tell you to stop!" Sophie rushed over to the daze Brian. "There's not even a reason to fight with Kato he's already home!"

"Ugh, why did you have to use hydro pump like that, you know it hurts!" complained Brian trying to sit back up.

"Oh would you rather I use hydro cannon instead!?"

"No wait! That'll literally kill me!"

The pair continue to argue as my dad and I watch idly by.

"So Brian's still mad at you for ditching us all those years ago?" my father asked.

I nodded in response and looked again to the fighting pair. "Out of everyone, he was the only one that kept trying to get me to come home. He battled me whenever we meet, betting that if he won I would do what he wanted me to do. Though, I shouldn't really be mad. I feel like this is his own way about caring about me."

"Wow, he must be really stubborn. So not even Brand challenge you?"

"Nah, he just didn't care about me at the time." I looked towards my father again, now feeling resolve, "Dad, I'm really am sorry for leaving you and mom four years and nine month ago. I know I left without your permission, but I just couldn't resist going out on this adventure. And now that I've seen what it is like, I can say for sure that I don't regret going, but I do regret leaving you guys."

My dad looked at me with a warm smile. "I never imagine you saying those word to me like that. You really have grown from that shy son I had before."

"But you don't need to worry about any of that." came my mother's voice. When we turned to look, my mouth fell open in shock.

Sophie's and Brian's argument all came to a stop once my mother came. Silence filled the air.

In my mother's arms was a young girl of long black hair and pale skin, looking no more then the age of two. I looked on in disbelief, never even expecting this to happen.

Brian and Sophie came up beside me and each place a hand on my shoulders, smiling as my eyes became filled with water.

"Kato, say hello to your little sister, Minerva." This girl, my little sister, slowly opened her eyes and looked up at me, and I took her in my arms for the first time.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! That is the end! Again, a shorter chapter than usual, but it does speak volume talking about the reunion of Kato and his family,**

 **Before I'm getting ahead of my self, I just wanted to say right now that if I ever do continue to write more in the future, the next story I may or may not do would in fact be a prequel to this story talking about the adventures of Kato when he was still ten years old.**

 **But again, that won't be until the near future. Hopefully I can improve my writing till then.**

 **Question of the chapter! Let's do something a little fun. What story genre do you like the most? I mostly like stories with a action adventure type with a hint of romance in it but it isn't the main focus. Kind of like Avatar the Last Airbender. Did I mention I like Avatar the Last Airbender already? I could have sworn I did. Not legend of Korra though, I don't like that.**

 **Anyways, thank you all for even reading my story in the first place. Feel free to review back and help me out with my writing. In the end, I hope you all have a nice day and stay safe.**

 _ **-Signed the Grand Enchanter**_


End file.
